AUGUSTA — State Rep. George Hogan would like a review of the state educational funding formula.

Hogan, D-Old Orchard Beach, has submitted a concept draft, LD 240, An Act to Amend the School Funding Formula.

The Essential Program and Services, or EPS formula, is used by the state to determine how much educational funding it will give towns and cities.

The formula is “so involved and so convoluted” that few people completely understand how it works, said former Regional School Unit 23 Chairman Gary Curtis in a recent phone interview.

School officals reported last year during budget season that Old Orchard Beach received a little more than 10 percent of the education costs subsidized by the state, whereas in Saco, about 41 percent of costs were subsidized by the state.

Old Orchard Beach is what is known as a minimal receiver of state education subsidy because of its high valuation of properties.

According to the most recent census data, Saco’s median household income is about $56,000, while Old Orchard Beach’s median household income is just $46,000.

“We really get hurt,” said Curtis. “There are just things that I think are inherently unfair about the formula.”

Hogan and Curtis said the EPS formula needs to be evaluated.

“We don’t feel like we fare too well,” said Hogan. Hogan said the formula doesn’t fairly consider the median income or the cost of being a tourist town. The town has the expense of providing services such as wastewater treatment, police and garbage removal for an increased number of people in the summer, said Hogan.

According to the town’s website, Old Orchard Beach’s population swells from about 9,000 in the winter to 75,000 in the summer.

— Staff Writer Liz Gotthelf can be contacted at 282-1535, ext.325 or egotthelf@journaltribunecom.