SCARBOROUGH – With three separate interest groups organizing to protest local tax rates, and accusations of misappropriating federal funds flying around town, the Scarborough Town Council is urging a yes vote on next week’s school budget validation, in which voters will be asked to weigh in on plans for extra money that came in from the state after the initial budget was approved.
“If voters turn this down, there’s going to be repercussions with the school,” said Councilor Richard Sullivan. “I’m sure there’s going to be layoffs.”
The council set polling from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. on Tuesday, Aug. 13, at town hall. Absentee ballots are available now at the clerk’s office.
The one question on the ballot will ask voters whether they approve of school budget amendments adopted by the Town Council at its July 31 special meeting. Those variations from the budget OK’d by residents July 11 include accepting $788,038 in additional funding from the state, and directing $520,283 into the new local obligation for teacher retirement pay and the rest, $267,775, into property tax relief.
By applying that money to Scarborough’s $70.94 million budget $53.96 million of which is funded through taxation the council expects to lower the property tax rate 8 cents, to $14.80 per $1,000 of valuation. That’s an increase of $1, or 7.23 percent, from last year. The change means the median home in Scarborough, assessed at $300,000, can now expect a property tax increase of $300, instead of $324.
Tax relief
About a dozen people attended the July 31 special meeting, most of them representing the school department. The residents who spoke, however, asked the council to use the entire $788,038 windfall to offset taxes.
“I’m all for the schools and teachers and the whole nine yards, but it’s just more than a lot of people can bear,” said Paula O’Brien, of Pond View Drive.
O’Brien said taxes on her “modest $250,000 home” are slated to go up $280 this year. The council proposal lowers that by $8.
“Our taxes have gone up almost 32 percent in five years,” said O’Brien. “So, I’d like to see the entire amount go to reducing the tax burden.”
Ocean Avenue resident Andrew Gwyer complained that recent changes to the state’s “circuit-breaker” program knocked many people in town living on fixed incomes, including himself, out of eligibility for a tax refund. According to Town Manager Tom Hall, an “inadvertent change” in the state law made local tax relief programs invalid after Aug. 1.
“I expect the Town Council will be considering these matters in the near future and I have no doubt that the town will continue to maintain a local program, so long as the state allows us to do so,” wrote Hall, in a July 31 email on the topic.
Like O’Brien, Gwyer asked that all of the increased state subsidy dollars go to tax relief. The school department should find the $520,283 needed to fund teacher retirement payments out of its previously approved $38.8 million operating budget, he said, because it “had done some misappropriating with Jobs Act money.”
“A lot of parents, a lot of people, a lot of voters did not know that had occurred. They should be on their own for that,” said Gwyer, who founded a Facebook group, Concerned Taxpayers of Scarborough, to dog town officials on budget issues
In 2010, Scarborough got $1.14 million in federal grant money to cover salaries and benefits to avoid layoffs during the recession. Because it was told using that money for teachers would have meant handing over $200,000 to the Maine retirement system, which was then covered entirely by the state, the school board used some of the money to pay bus drivers instead during the 2011-2012 school year.
In February, the school department learned its $1.2 million decrease in state aid included a $706,141 penalty for using the jobs fund money on bus drivers instead of teachers.
“Throughout the process, the school department followed the guidance of state and federal officials, submitted several applications which were vetted and approved by the state, and at no time was any indication given that this would impact our GPA [general purpose aid for education subsidy] in ensuing years,” wrote the school department’s business director, Kate Bolton, in a June 12 email to Hall.
Although the school board learned of the penalty in February, the Town Council was not apprised of the situation until it got a June 6 letter from state Rep. Amy Volk, who sat in on a March 18 meeting between state and local school officials. Following that meeting, an appeal was filed.
“That request was denied and we have been told we have no recourse, that the handling of federal funds in the EPS [essential programs and services] formula is a matter of statute and cannot be altered,” wrote Bolton.
Voter discord
Despite Gwyer’s claims of misappropriation, which have echoed throughout Scarborough since the fine came to light after the final public vote, town councilors threw their support behind the school board.
“I fully support their explanation,” said Sullivan. “This is not the fault of the school or the town. It’s the fault of the state.”
“It comes down to pay me now or pay me later,” agreed Councilor James Benedict.
“Please don’t listen to the scuttlebutt because there’s too many crazy stories out there,” said Councilor Judy Roy. “There was no misappropriation of funds. The way in which they applied the money was OK by the state, they said absolutely OK, but then when the issue came back up in February they said it was not OK, and that’s the way it’s going to be.
“The only thing the council was concerned about was not being told in February that’s what happened,” said Roy, adding that the tone taken by residents over the budget and other recent issues has been unlike any she’s ever seen.
“The ream of misinformation that is out there in the community, as is evidenced by the very disrespectful and vulgar emails that we have been receiving this week, is unbelievable,” she said.
After the meeting, Roy said the abuse has been so bad that she is considering not running for re-election.
“I think, why do I need to take this, why should I care, but, of course, that’s the thing, I do care about what happens in this town,” said Roy.
In addition to working class taxpayers and residents on fixed income, a third group up in arms about taxes in Scarborough is waterfront property owners. Last year, a partial reassessment saw land values for many of those homes jump 25 percent, and some as much as 40 percent. Nearly 100 homeowners appealed those assessments. According to Hall, the town and the property owners agreed to group the appeals by neighborhood into single hearings before the Board of Appeals, starting August 19.
On July 15, Pine Point resident Don Petrin and one other local resident met with Michael Rogers, the supervisor of municipal services for the Maine Revenue Service. Petrin claims former assessor Paul Lesperance unfairly targeted the beachfront homes to raise revenue for the town, failing to conduct a proper market analysis to justify his new values. Lesperance retired in March after nearly three decades with the town, but has remained on a per diem basis to handle the appeals.
In a July 29 interview, Rogers declined to discuss the meeting with Petrin or details of a report he prepared on the quality of Lesperance’s work. That report, originally slated for release last week, was due out on Monday, after review by Roger’s supervisor, according to Maine Revenue spokesman David Heidrich. However, Rogers did drop one small hint that it might not read as Petrin hopes.
“I don’t think they’re going to like it,” he said.
With so much discord circulating on so many fronts, town councilors expressed concern at the July 31 meeting that voters might deny the budget amendment. Kate St. Clair, in particular, urged staffers, parents and other school boosters to show up at the polls to counter an expected tide of angry voters.
“If you support your schools, get off your butt and vote,” she said.
Meanwhile, councilors say they understand voter frustration and are doing all they can to hold the line on spending. Roy, who chairs the council finance committee, said her group, which normally does not get rolling until budgeting season in the spring, will meet with department heads at biweekly meetings through September and October, to determine where belts can be tightened.
“We’ve heard the message,” said Hall. “We know that we are on an unsustainable path and that we have to do something long term.”
A CLOSER LOOK
Polls will be open in Scarborough 7 a.m.-8 p.m. on Tuesday, Aug. 13, at town hall, to vote on the use of state funds awarded after the final school budget vote. Absentee ballots are available now at the clerk’s office.
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