JAY — When the Regional School Unit 73 board meets at Spruce Mountain Middle School at 6 p.m. Thursday, March 10, budget deliberations will include a proposal to change the district’s funding formula.

RSU 73 was formed in 2011 by the consolidation of Regional School Unit 36 in Livermore and Livermore Falls and the Jay School Department. The reorganization plan requires that in year five of the plan the school board will review and possibly adopt a different cost-sharing method. Any amendment adopted by the board would be for the sixth budget year, which begins July 1, 2016.

According to the plan, approval of a new cost-sharing method requires a majority vote of the full board. There must be at least one affirmative vote of a board member from each town.

The board includes six members from Jay, four from Livermore Falls and three from Livermore.

Approval of a new method means there must be at least seven yes votes, including one each from Jay, Livermore and Livermore Falls.

If a change is approved, at least one meeting of municipal representatives must be held to reconsider the method of sharing costs. Each member municipality must be represented by two people chosen at large by municipal officers.

Any change in the method of sharing costs may only be approved by a majority vote of the municipal representatives present and voting.

If approved by a majority of the municipal representatives, the change must be submitted to the voters at a referendum. A majority vote is needed to change the method. Additionally, two of the three original towns in the school district must vote in the majority.

If the above provisions aren’t met, the cost-sharing method will stay the same, which is based solely on valuation.

On Oct. 1, 2015, student population in RSU 73 was: Jay, 692; Livermore, 284; and Livermore Falls, 504.

Fiona Baker, administrative assistant to the superintendent, said student numbers are going down.

According to the 2016-17 proposed budget presented Feb. 11, the amount is $18.6 million. Of that, $2.28 million is above the state’s Essential Programs and Services baseline. The towns’ shares of the $2.28 million are: Jay, $1.7 million; Livermore, $303,412; and Livermore Falls, $250,067.

Using the current cost-sharing method, Jay would pay 72.01 percent of the total budget; Livermore, 15.3 percent; and Livermore Falls, 12.68 percent.

An RSU 73 funding formula subcommittee has met several times to consider the district’s cost-sharing method and how it might be changed. Earlier this month, the subcommittee voted 4-2 to recommend the funding formula be based 80 percent on property valuation and 20 percent on student enrollment.

Livermore Falls representatives Denise Rodzen and Tammy Frost voted to keep the current formula of 100 percent valuation.

The loss of valuation in the town of Jay would affect the ratio of what Livermore and Livermore Falls pay toward the school budget. It would also cause an increase in county taxes for other towns.

Three years are needed for a town’s tax valuation change to show up in school funding formulas. 

Other budget considerations include the restructuring of the elementary schools, bus purchases and other cost-saving measures.

[email protected]