By Zack Anchors

Staff Writer

    South Portland leaders have a message for two state
education officials: South Portland is contributing more than it’s fair
share of revenues to the state, they said, while the city is getting
far less than its fair share of funding in return.

    “South Portland is in a unique situation,” said City
Manager Ted Jankowski in an interview last Monday. “We only get back 27
cents on every new dollar in property taxes we generate. . .We’re
penalized by school aid formulas.”

    The dilemma, Jankowski says, lies in the fact that
although South Portland’s residential population is not especially
wealthy, the town’s commercial and industrial tax base is substantial.
That means, under formulas that determine state aid based on total
property value, that the city receives relatively little state funding,
leaving the burden of paying for schools and other services on local
taxpayers. In other words, more economic development in the city means
more revenues for the state, which in turn translates to less funding
for the city and higher taxes for its residents.

    Although county taxes, funding for transportation
projects and other state aid are all of concern to city officials, the
highest priority is the percent of the school system’s budget provided
by the state through its Essential Programs and Services funding
formula.

    “We’re not even receiving 12 percent and we’ve got
towns around us that are receiving to the tune of 50 percent,” said
Mayor Claude Morgan. “What we’ve got is this terrible downward spiral
where we are arguably the worst funded school system in the state.”

    At a meeting in Augusta last week Jankowski and
Morgan, along with City Councilor Jim Soule, Superintendent of Schools
Wendy Houlihan, State Senator Lynn Bromley, State Reps. Jane Eberle and
Larry Bliss and School Board Member Bill Harris, met with Deputy
Commissioner of Education Angela Faherty and Jim Rier– a state
education official who specializes in school funding. Morgan said
Faherty and Rier were receptive to the South Portland delegations
concerns and open to considering ways to get more education funding to
the city.

    “The dialogue is open,” he said. “I think the state heard us.”

    According to Morgan, the meeting in Augusta was part
of a broader effort by city officials to work with state officials on
issues that effect funding for South Portland.

    “This is long overdue,” said Morgan. “What we’ve
done is get in touch with our state delegates and say, “look, we’re
getting the raw deal.”

    Another topic of discussion between city and state
officials has been the governor’s new school consolidation plan.

    “We have a lot of experience with consolidation in
South Portland and the state is just looking at it for the first time,”
said Jankowski. “So we’re offering to offer our expertise.”

     Morgan said that South Portland has provided a
model for consolidation efforts through working with other towns on
waste management, emergency services dispatch and participating in
regional groups like the Metro Regional Coalition. In light of those
efforts to increase the efficiency of government, Morgan said, it would
be frustrating if the state did not cooperate with the city on school
consolidation.

    “It would be a real bitter pill to swallow if we
were to continue to get poor funding and had forced consolidation,”
said Morgan.

    City officials are planning a series of meetings
with state officials to explore possible ways to address concerns about
funding inequities. Morgan said the city’s state delegation is fully
engaged with the effort.

    “We think our state reps are really on the ball and can think of ways to work around the formulas,” he said.