To the editor:
I think we can all agree that the state of Maine, and in particular, Caribou and Aroostook County, remain firmly in the grip of a lengthy economic recession. The population of Caribou has declined since the last census and student enrollment at RSU 39 is down from previous years. We are not a wealthy school district. Per capita income is estimated to be about $19,500 while median household income is approximately $36,780. Unemployment remains at 10 percent. Accordingly, fewer taxpayers are spending more money to fund the education of our children.
It is against this backdrop of dismal economic conditions and horrible financial data that we, the citizens of Caribou, Limestone and Stockholm, are being asked to approve yet another increase in our property taxes by the Board of Education. Superintendent McElwain’s proposed budget of $18.7 million for 2013-14 is the same amount budgeted for the current school year. Many difficult spending decisions were made by the Board to keep year over year spending flat. I readily give them credit for that accomplishment.
But why then, you might ask, are taxes about to go up if they are holding the line on spending? The answer is actually, quite simple. The school board reached a point where they refused to trim the budget any further and they allowed their proposed expenditures to exceed anticipated revenues. Stated another way, they simply decided to spend more money than they were taking in!
Revenues for the coming fiscal year have been diminished by $192,864. The major portion of that shortfall is the result of a $155,297 reduction in financial aid from the state. You may have heard the Governor and the Legislature are struggling in Augusta to craft a state budget because their anticipated revenues are short by hundreds of millions of dollars.
With this budget, school directors are making a very clear statement. They are saying, in effect, that if they can’t get the money they want from the state, they will just take it from the citizens of the three communities they serve by increasing property taxes. And with that very deliberate decision, they have relegated the local taxpayer to the lowly status of a pawn in a chess match, manipulated victims of the budget battle between the Governor’s budget in Augusta and their own. Instead of reducing their budget expenditures by an additional 1 percent, they are choosing to raise our taxes again!
For Caribou citizens, our share of the proposed tax increase is 92 percent of the total tax burden, or $177,874. This increase is approximately equivalent to one half of a mil, which will cause our mil rate to rise to 20.0 from 19.4. A typical home assessed at $150,000 will see a tax increase of approximately $75. And because assessments seldom go down, this additional $75 will be paid year after year for the life of the property. Over a 10-year period, this one, unnecessary increase will cost the owner of that typical home $750. And this is in addition to what he or she is currently paying, plus any additional increases RSU 39 decides to levy against us in the future.
Last week, in an effort to do some emergency damage control and ward off criticism of his budget, Superintendent McElwain wrote an eloquent letter to the editor. It was truly heartwarming to hear him describe in great detail the wonderful accomplishments which were achieved throughout our communities. His letter consisted of about 1,100 words of gratitude, but not one word about the budget or the pending tax increase! If he really wanted to thank the communities he could have done so by saying these 25 simple words — “Thank you for being supportive of education. I have reduced the expenditures in my proposed budget so there will be no tax increase this year.”
He missed a golden opportunity wherein he could have explained which expenditures are the biggest drivers of his budget proposal and what, if any, cost-control measures he is taking to mitigate future increases. For example, in his budget message he said, “… insurance rates were increased by 13 percent representing a $300,000 increase in our budget.” Well if you do the math, you quickly realize that the total cost for health insurance for teachers in the current budget year was $2.3 million, which will be rising to $2.6 million next year! And here is another example of a missed opportunity to explain a budget expense. Quoting again from his budget message the Superintendent writes, “In addition to normal built increases of wages ….” Seriously? Who is getting the raises and how much are they getting?
Please think about these two issues for a moment. Why didn’t the Superintendent publicly discuss them and how can it be rationally argued that this tax increase is necessary for the education of our children, when it is clearly going to pay for raises and lavish health insurance policies for the teachers? There can only be one answer. The Superintendent didn’t write about these topics in his “thank you” letter, because he didn’t want the taxpayers to know about them. You see, he and the Board of Education are responsible for them. That’s right! They negotiated these terms and conditions with the teachers’ union and are now asking you to pay for them by increasing your taxes.
This budget cries out for more scrutiny because it raises too many unanswered questions. The only thing that is clear is that the school board has created a condition at RSU 39 where the teachers are being enriched at the expense of the children they were hired to educate. That’s just not right! And it is not fair to ask the taxpayer to pay for these extraordinary salaries and benefits just because the board lost some state subsidies. The taxpayer should not have to clean up their mistakes and miscalculations.
Please tell us things we need to know to approve this budget. How many teachers do we employ? What is the fully burdened labor cost for each teacher per school? How much money are we spending per pupil and how does that compare to the state average? What are our graduation and drop out rates? Why did the state Department of Education give the Caribou High School a “C” grade and the Limestone Elementary school an “F” grade? But most importantly, why are more than half of our high school students performing at levels which are only partially proficient or worse? We are spending $18.7 million, an unprecedented amount of money, educating our children! Shouldn’t we expect better results?
In closing, I ask the citizens of Caribou, Limestone and Stockholm to recognize that there is a huge over reliance on property taxes in our communities. Property taxes are the most insidious and regressive taxes known to mankind. The tax incorrectly presumes that if you own real estate or operate a business, you can afford to pay the tax. Nothing could be farther from the truth. When taxes are increased, especially during a deep recession, it is a punitive slap in the face to everyone who is unemployed, underemployed, elderly or disabled. It is anti-farmer, anti-business and puts upward price pressure on all of the commodities we buy. Everything from gasoline to groceries is more expensive, in part, because of the heavy personal and real estate property taxes our merchants have to pay.
If you are reading my letter and thinking that you may be able to pay this tax increase, please ask yourself this question before you vote. Can those among us who are less affluent or less fortunate than ourselves afford to pay it? Remember, the property tax hits everyone with the same force!
Please join me tonight at the RSU 39 Budget Validation Meeting which is being held at the Caribou Middle School Cafeteria on Glenn Street at 7. I give this budget a failing grade and I intend to vote “no” on every Article of the Proposed Budget. If the budget is not approved, the school board will be required to reexamine and reduce their expenses. The budget will then be amended and resubmitted to the voters.
Like me, you can be a supporter of RSU 39 and be against this budget. All of us have a right to expect that our tax revenue will be spent wisely.
Let’s keep Caribou, Limestone and Stockholm affordable places to live. Please come to the meeting and vote “no.”
Paul R. Camping
Caribou
