STRONG — Voters will get a chance to offer their ideas about the future of SAD 58 and its funding at a discussion at 6 p.m. Thursday at the Forster Memorial Building.

The event aims to prepare taxpayers for a public forum at the Nov. 18 school board meeting at Strong Elementary School.

Resident Marc Edwards suggests looking at figures from the 2007 U.S. Census Bureau and the Maine State Planning Office.

“I know that these are statistical figures, and they are dynamic, but still, this is the best we have, other than anecdotal evidence, intuition or gut feelings,” he said. “I simply do not feel that we know enough to say we, as a town, can or cannot afford a 1 or 2 mill increase.”

Edwards said there are no statistics that include any relevant data, including the number of property owners on fixed or low incomes or those making more than $30,000.

All Strong taxpayers saw their bills jump from $10 per $1,000 of property value to $11.20 for the coming fiscal year.

“No one wants higher taxes, and no one wants to close schools,” Selectman Milt Baston said. “Regardless of whether the mill rate goes up or down, my main concern is the percentage of our tax dollars we have to spend on the school district. The high percentage that goes to the school district does not leave the municipalities much to work with.”

The state subsidy for the district is calculated on property tax values reported two years earlier. The town’s updated property valuation reflected 2008 market values, indicating the town should pay a larger share of this year’s school budget.

Baston said the town increased its monthly payment to the district by 24 percent, from $49,400 to $61,319.

Copies of the current budget are available on the SAD 58 website: www.msad58.org//images/district/BudgetBook2010-2011.pdf.

For more information, call 684-4429.