CARY PLANTATION, Maine — Should Cary Plantation withdraw from SAD 70 and pursue deorganization?
That is the question on the minds of the 202 residents that make up the community that encompasses 13.5 square miles in southern Aroostook County. A special town meeting was held at Hodgdon High School June 1, 2015, in which 50 residents gathered to hear information and voice any concerns. There are 114 registered voters in the community.
According to Marsha McGary, town clerk/registrar of voters/general assistance, the question of deorganization was brought to the forefront by a citizens’ petition. Rising property tax bills, coupled with a declining and aging population, were cited as the motivating factors for deorganization.
Diane Cassidy started citizens’ petitions to both deorganize and withdraw from SAD 70. At the June 1 meeting, residents agreed to begin the process of deorganizing by a vote of 41-6.
“We are now waiting for the state to contact us to set up a special town meeting,” McGary said. “There is a board of five state officials (for deorganizing) and we have to have a quorum come here.”
Before the town can deorganize, it must first withdraw from the SAD 70 school district. McGary said the town could plan both steps simultaneously, but the deorganization process takes much longer — between 2-5 years — than withdrawing from a school district, which could be done in about a year.
Unpaid tax bills have put a serious damper on the town’s ability to meet its financial obligations, McGary said.
“This is really a yearly issue because there are so many outstanding taxes,” she said. “Sometimes they go to liens, and sometimes liens get paid and other times they become tax-acquired property.”
Cary Plantation has $40,029 in delinquent taxes for 2014 and an additional $18,336 for 2013. The town collected $193,639 in taxes for 2014. The town’s tax rate is currently at 23 mils.
Another problem facing Cary Plantation is that close to 40 percent of the property in the town is owned by the state and is therefore tax-exempt. The town receives $10,962 in revenue sharing from the state, but the total municipal appropriation to run the town, including school and county tax commitments, is $305,015. Therefore, the bulk of the financial burden is placed on the small number of property owners in the community.
To withdraw from a school district, a town must complete a 22-step process that begins with holding a special referendum to vote on whether or not to officially start the withdrawal process. That article must state how much money the town will raise to support legal fees associated with the process.
Earlier this year, the town of Monticello held a referendum to withdraw from RSU 29 and authorized up to $2,500 to cover legal fees.
If the township moves forward with its plan to withdraw from SAD 70, students from that area would have to pay tuition to either remain in that district or choose another. Tuition costs are set by the state and vary dramatically from one school district to the next.
Once the deorganization takes place, the state pays the costs for tuitioning students, but until that takes place, residents of Cary would pay. And with 18 students, that bill would be considerably higher than simply remaining in SAD 70.
In the 2015-16 SAD 70 budget, Cary will pay $121,542 to send students to the district.
According to the figures presented during the meeting, the cost to tuition students to SAD 70 is $7,123 for elementary students and $9,754 for high school students. There are 15 elementary students and three high-schoolers currently enrolled in SAD 70, therefore the cost to tuition those students would be $136,107.
