Boothbay and Boothbay Harbor, now minimum receivers of state education aid because of their high land values, will get a $656,000 increase this year thanks to the full funding of special needs in the governor's tax plan. Wiscasset, on the other hand, will see an increase of $421,000 this year but then get a cut of more than $1 million the following year, based on increased property values.

The state aid numbers are a critical piece of the governor's tax reform plan. Under his proposal, currently being amended and refined by a special Joint Select Committee on Property Tax Reform, the state will be picking up more of K-12 education costs -- from the current 43 percent to 55 percent in four years. The promise is that every dollar of new state aid will translate into 90-cents of property tax relief at the local level.

That aid, however, is not given out equally, rather it is based on a community's ability to pay and whether enrollments are going up or down. The governor's plan also incorporates the new Essential Programs and Services funding formula, which determines what school districts should be spending to educate students so they can pass mandated standardized tests. The bonus in that model is it pays 100 percent of special needs costs even for high-value towns like Boothbay, which under the old formula received minimum subsidies.

Statewide, 45 districts out of 286 are losing state aid largely because of declining enrollments, increased property valuations or a combination of the two.

Based in part on those EPS figures, the tax reform committee will decide what other tax relief options to include in its reform bill, expected to be voted on by the Legislature by Jan. 20.

On Tuesday afternoon the committee reviewed five constitutional amendments that would provide targeted tax relief through local option homestead or circuit-breaker programs that cities and towns would have to pay for, if adopted. The group also discussed taxing working waterfront properties based on their current use -- similar to the way forest and farmland is now taxed -- rather than assessing them based on their value if developed into housing.

Whatever proposals the tax committee decides to add onto or change in the governor's plan will be decided by this week. The group agreed to a timetable on Monday that promised the tax bill would be hammered out by the end of its workday on Friday -- whenever that occurs. Tax reform losers

The biggest losers in general state aid for education -- and therefore property tax relief under the governor's plan -- will be those communities whose values have risen the most dramatically in recent years, and whose school enrollments are going down. Small schools also lose out under EPS because they can't justify administrative costs based on their enrollments.

State figures released last week show the highest valuation increases this year were in Lincoln County, with 23 percent growth; Sagadahoc and Knox were at 16.7 percent; York at 15.7; Hancock at 15; and, Cumberland at 14.5.

More school districts would be on the losing end based on their high values if it weren't for the fact they already were minimum receivers because of their high values before the EPS numbers were released on Tuesday.

Those districts include Bar Harbor, Blue Hill, Boothbay, Camden, Castine, Georgetown, Mount Desert, Southwest Harbor and Tremont. They came out ahead because rather than simply getting minimum subsidy -- around five percent of operating costs -- as they did before, they now get 100 percent of special needs costs, which is substantially higher. In Booth-bay, for example, state aid is going up from $211,326 to $867,444 because of the special needs reimbursement.

Other communities are just now paying the price of their increased valuations. Land values in Millbridge, for example, have gone up 23 percent and the school district based there is losing $816,000 in state aid next year. Orland is losing $48,692 in state aid this year and another $119,495 the year after that because its land values have risen 35 percent and enrollment is going down.

For those cities and towns where escalating property values are forcing long-time owners out of their homes, constitutional amendments are being considered to provide tax relief. Proposals include a different property tax on primary versus secondary homes; consideration of current-use value for property under long-term ownership -- similar to the Maine Land Bank legislation already rejected by the Legislature; valuation caps on working waterfront; and, local option or locally adopted enhanced circuit-breakers or homestead exemptions, going beyond what is currently offered statewide. Targeted relief

One idea that has picked up substantial support on the committee is a circuit-breaker that goes beyond what the governor has proposed. The governor's bill, known as LD1, expands income eligibility to $75,000 for families and $50,000 for individuals, but keeps the maximum benefit at $1,000 per household for now.

Committee member, Sen. Peter Mills, R-Somerset, and Co-chairman Rep. Richard Woodbury, an independent from Yarmouth, have worked on a plan that would raise the maximum benefit to between $2,000 and $4,000 and allow a tax break on the first $3,000 of taxes paid for individuals and $4,000 for families. It phases out the benefit gradually, giving those families earning $90,000 a $200 tax break.

"The circuit breaker in LD1 doesn't do enough," said Mills, who would like to do away with the current homestead exemption -- which allows Maine homeowners to deduct from $3,000 to $7,000 of their home's value before paying property taxes. He would like to use the estimated $36 million the homestead exemption costs annually to beef up circuit-breaker.

Mills also has proposed local option homesteads and circuit-breakers, where cities and towns would be allowed to go beyond what the state offers.

Other states offer an array of options.

The homestead exemption in Florida is $25,000 for every person, who calls that state his permanent home. Florida also has a local option homestead for persons 65 or older earning $20,000 or less, and allows an additional homestead exemption of up to $25,000 in counties or municipalities that choose to adopt it.

In Texas there's a $15,000 homestead exemption for school taxes; a $3,000 exemption for certain county taxes; and people over 65 can qualify for an additional $10,000 exemption for school taxes. There's also a local option homestead for all local governing units of up to 20 percent of a home's value.