Balancing the demand for services with the citizens’ ability to pay for these services is always a struggle during the budget process. Maine is No. 1 in the nation in tax burden so elected officials must be very cautious in raising the tax burden any further. The Town Council recently passed the budget for the coming fiscal year with a 1.15 percent increase in the tax rate. I believed it was prudent to keep any increase as low as possible since we’ve had higher than average increases in recent years to accommodate the addition/renovation of Scarborough High School.

It’s most unfortunate a couple of members of the Board of Education have attacked the Town Council for reducing the proposed school budget by $300,000. It seems every year there is political grandstanding by these individuals under the theory that education in Scarborough doesn’t receive adequate support from the Town Council. Let’s not let the facts get in the way of the political rhetoric.

The school budget will increase by $1,518,000. For perspective, the average increase for the last three years was $1,194,000 with comparable enrollment increases. The budget increase next year is 27 percent higher than the average increase of the last three years.

The Town Council also approved the school capital improvements projects budget ($1,584,000) in its entirety. In addition, two other items were also approved that primarily benefit the school population (artificial turf at $400,000 and resurfacing the track at $150,000). Yet, all we hear is how we’re not supportive of education.

Over the long term, the data is even more compelling. In the 1998 fiscal year, the school budget was $13.3 million with enrollmment at 2,667. The budget for the 2007 fiscal year will be $27.1 million with projected enrollment at 3,353. These numbers indicate the school budget has more than doubled (104 percent increase) while enrollment has increased only 24 percent over the nine year period.

Last year during the budget process I read a statement into the record expressing concern about two areas in the education budget that were growing at unsustainable rates and that if adjustments weren’t made in these two areas in the near term the town would see tax increases of epic proportions (or a significant reduction in services). These two areas of concern were the hiring of staff and health insurance premiums.

According to figures provided by the school department, in the fiscal year for 2001 we had 396.45 full-time equivalent employees and 3,016 students. This yielded an average of one full-time equivalent employee for every 7.6 students. In the last five years, we have added 76 full-time equivalent employees while enrollment has increased by only 300 students. This yields an average of one full-time equivalent employee for every 3.9 additional students. We have hired employees at nearly double the rate of the system average. This cost is further compounded by the high cost of health insurance that the school district chooses to pay.

In the last year data was available (2004), the total costs of health insurance per employee with family coverage were the following: Maine ($8,459), Scarborough municipal ($9,612), Scarborough schools ($13,206). The employer costs of these health plans are Maine ($3,468), Scarborough municipal ($6,959) and Scarborough schools ($10,565). In the 2004 fiscal year, it costs the taxpayer $3,606 more for a school empolyee’s family health coverage than it did for a municipal employee on comparable plans.

In spite of all of this data, the argument is still made that somehow the schools are getting short changed. Unbeknown to some elected, officials including some councilors, there are many folks in town that struggle to pay their taxes. I suggest these folks go talk with people that live on Pine Point or Higgins Beach or the elderly that live on fixed incomes.

The Taxpayer Bill of Rights will be on the ballot in November, and the odds are pretty good that it will pass because of the increasing frustration people have with the high tax burden. The school district will also be asking for the voters to approve another $55 million in school projects. At some point, we will kill the goose that laid the golden egg. This point is getting closer by the day as the Taxpayer Bill of Rights has the goose in its cross hairs.

Jeffrey Messer

Scarborough Town Council