NTON

The Westport Island School Subsidy Committee has began a grass- roots movement to correct the inequities in the formula used to determine the state school funding to towns.

Over 80 letters have been sent to the selectmen of affected towns in the coastal area asking for their help in pressing for a legislative solution.

Towns such as Southport, Boothbay, Boothbay Harbor, South Bristol, Bristol, and Bremen, receive an allocation of zero for basic education.

According to information provided by the Westport Island School Subsidy Committee, there are 135 Maine towns not receiving any school funding based on the current formula, except for special education and debt services for capital improvements.

According to Dennis Dunbar, a member of the committee, the current formula is based on need.

"Need, in this case, is determined solely by land values, which have gone up dramatically in the rural coastal towns and in the mountain and lake towns," he said.

"Any town that has a mill rate dedicated for education that is less than 7.6 mills gets no support, and no benefit from the LD1 measure's promise of 55 percent support for education (other than special education and debt service)," he said.

The Department of Education Essential Programs and Services (EPS) calculations are based on four components: operating costs, other subsidizable costs; debt service, and local contributions.

These four components are used to determine the total allocation; the town's state valuation is multiplied by the mill rate of an expected 7.6 to determine the local contribution. If the total allocation is more than the local contribution, the state will fund the difference. If the total contribution is more than the total allocation, the town receives no funding for basic education.

The committee is proposing to change the calculations in determining the EPS funding. According to the committee, the current subsidy distribution penalizes low-income persons in coastal towns, rewards towns with inefficient governing bodies, and penalizes towns that elect to send their students to a regional school system.

Many working families see their property tax burden grow with the assessed value of their land. Many coastal towns' average income is consistent with state averages, yet those towns get no basic funding. All rural coastal communities are denied funding without regard to their average income, because of the high valuation of coastal property.

Westport Island's medium family income is $42,625; Boothbay Harbor $45,179; Boothbay $45,461; Southport $52,750. These towns receive no EPS funding, except for special education and debt services for capital improvements.

Wiscasset, with a medium family income of $46,671, Edgecomb at $49,861 Cape Elizabeth at $86,126, and Scarborough, at $64,141, all receive the basic subsidy.

The Westport Island committee is proposing a per student allocation; an income based allocation, and valuation based on allocation to determine the subsidy distribution.

Richard DeVries, chairman of the committee, said he would be contacting the local communities that have been sent letters to discuss the problem and to create the legislative action necessary to correct the inequity.