. Regional School Unit 14 officials have proposed a new cost-sharing formula based on town property valuations that would increase taxes for Windham residents and reduce Raymond’s burden.

The new formula would not affect the school assessments that are determined by the state’s Essential Services and Programs formula – or about 85 percent of this year’s $25.52 million budget.

It would affect the remaining 15 percent, or about $3.7 million. While the existing cost-sharing formula has Windham residents pay for just over 55 percent of these locally controlled expenses, the new budget would increase Windham’s share to 64 percent. Raymond’s share would dip from 45 to 36 percent.

Assuming that expenses and incomes remain at current levels in coming years, district administrators estimate that a $250,000 home in Windham would see a $51 tax increase as a result of the new formula. School taxes on a $250,000 home in Raymond would decline $90, according to the projection. If approved by voters at a district-wide meeting in the spring, the tax modifications would be phased in over a three-year period, starting in fiscal year 2016.

According to school district officials, who deny the arrangement is an effort to appease Raymond voters who have initiated the withdrawal process partly due to concerns of inequity of the cost-sharing formula, the school board has intended to re-examine the formula since the spring.

“The premise of this originally was, ‘It’s just time to look at a new formula,’” said RSU 14 Superintendent Sandy Prince. “The intent was to do it last spring, but the board was just incredibly busy, so they postponed it until this fall.”

“Over the years, there have been some concerns that the current formula needs to be revisited,” Prince added. “I think it was prudent to look at it.”

According to Prince, the proposed formula is supported by the district administration. Prince and Assistant Superintendent Donn Davis both sat on the seven-person Cost-Sharing Sub-Committee that developed the proposal in recent months. The other committee members included Raymond school board members Jeri Keane-Dryer and Diana Froisland, and Windham school board members Kate Brix, Jennifer Fleck and Chairwoman Marge Govoni. Govoni said school board members see the proposal as “equitable.”

“We’re feeling very comfortable with it as of right now,” she said.

The existing cost-sharing formula was set forth in the 2008 Reorganization Plan, when the district was consolidated. It calculated the cost-sharing formula based on an average of each town’s local-only funding – funding not dictated by the state’s mandated contribution – in the three years prior to consolidation.

Starting in fiscal year 2019, the proposed cost-sharing formula would be based on a ratio determined by averages of each town’s property valuation for the previous three years. During the 2012-2013 school year, the state valued Windham at $1.7 billion, while it valued Raymond at $1 billion. When combined, the ratio breaks down to 64:36, which is the ratio used in the proposed cost-sharing formula. If approved, in fiscal 2016, the cost-sharing formula would shift to 58:42. The next year, it would change to 61:39. In fiscal year 2018, the transition to the new cost-sharing regime would be complete.

The proposed cost-sharing formula would also change the way the district funds capital improvements, such as renovations and new school construction. Concerns about Raymond’s contribution to a potential new middle school in Windham motivated the effort to begin the withdrawal process from the district this year.

According to Assistant Superintendent Donn Davis, under the current formula, Raymond would fund nearly 45 percent of the costs for a new middle school, even if no Raymond students attended it, while Windham would fund about 55 percent. According to Govoni, construction of the new school, if approved at a future referendum, could cost between $32 million and $42 million, not including interest.

Under the proposed formula, whichever town “engages” in large, future capital expenditures would pay for the project or projects. If the district built a new middle school strictly for Windham students, Raymond taxpayers would not fund the project. However, if the district built a new middle school in Windham that Raymond students attended, Raymond would contribute toward the construction costs. The costs would be broken down proportionally based on student enrollment levels from each respective town.

In mid-August, facing a petition drive for Raymond withdrawal, the board decided to postpone discussions of a potential new Windham middle school in order to focus on the cost-sharing formula instead. According to Prince, the proposed cost-sharing formula is not an effort to mollify Raymond voters who are seeking withdrawal from the district.

“I don’t see this formula trying to persuade anybody, one way or the other,” Prince said. “This is just the right thing to do.”

But according to minutes from a Sept. 10 meeting of the Cost-Sharing Sub-Committee, the goal of the effort was to release the proposal prior to the Nov. 4 Raymond referendum on withdrawal initiation.

“It is the subcommittee’s hope and intent to have a recommendation in advance of the Raymond November referendum in order that the public can have the recommendation as a data point in making decisions,” the minutes read.

The proposal was ultimately presented to the board on Nov. 5, the day after the referendum.

The school board is tentatively scheduled to vote on the revamped cost-sharing formula on Jan. 7. If the board votes yes, a public hearing will likely be held on Feb. 11. In order for the changes to be effective for the upcoming fiscal year, a district-wide meeting would need to then occur prior to April 2, according to district officials.