Tucked into the original school consolidation bill passed earlier this year was a provision that would require all school budgets to go out to a district-wide referendum starting in 2008. The provision would have gone into effect before any districts had a chance to form new consolidated units.

The idea behind the proposal was to allow local taxpayers to see how much their districts are spending over state recommended levels, as expressed in the Essential Programs and Services or EPS funding model.

The Education Committee last week voted to amend that part of the law and not require referendum votes until the following year.

The amendment was attached to the Department of Education’s proposed bill to allow school districts coming together to form a new regional school unit to come up with their own cost-sharing formulas for costs over EPS. The idea is to remove any

financial barriers that could be stopping districts from partnering with their neighbors.

The department’s bill also eliminates the requirement that all towns must pay at least 2 mills to support a new regional school unit regardless of how many students they send. And it protects property-rich towns, which currently get only minimal state aid, from losing subsidy if they join a regional school unit. Those towns

would continue to get that subsidy, in the form of special education funding, if they join a larger district.

The bill will head to the Legislature when it returns in January.