An Act To Base School Funding on the Number of Students Sent by a Town to a Regional School Unit
Maine Legislature, Session 129, LD 0385
Committee: Education and Cultural Affairs
Sponsors: ACKLEY
Amends: 20-A MRSA §15671-A, 20-A MRSA §15672, 20-A MRSA §15688

Legislative Document
No. 385
H.P. 294
House of Representatives, January 24, 2019
An Act To Base School Funding on the Number of Students Sent by 
a Town to a Regional School Unit
Reference to the Committee on Education and Cultural Affairs suggested and ordered 
printed.
ROBERT B. HUNT
Clerk
Presented by Representative ACKLEY of Monmouth.  (BY REQUEST)
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Maine as follows:
Sec. 1.  20-A MRSA §15671-A, sub-§2, as amended by PL 2017, c. 446, §1, is 
further amended to read:
2.  Local cost share expectation.  This Except as provided in subsection 2-A, this 
subsection establishes full-value education mill rates that limit a municipality's required 
local contribution pursuant to section 15688, subsection 3-A.  The full-value mill rates 
represent rates that, if applied to the statewide valuation, would produce the statewide 
total local share.  Notwithstanding any other provision of law, with respect to the 
assessment of any property taxes for property tax years beginning on or after April 1, 
2005, a municipality's required local contribution determined pursuant to section 15688, 
subsection 3-A establishes the local cost share expectation for that municipality.
A.  Based on the funding requirements established in section 15671, the 
commissioner shall annually by February 1st notify each school administrative unit of 
its local cost share expectation and tabulate that local cost share expectation, total 
allocation and the projected state subsidy for each school administrative unit and post 
those tabulations, itemized by school administrative unit, on the department's publicly 
accessible website.  Each superintendent shall report to the municipal officers 
whenever a school administrative unit is notified of the local cost share expectation or 
a change made in the local cost share expectation resulting from an adjustment.
B.  For property tax years beginning on or after April 1, 2005, the commissioner shall 
calculate the full-value education mill rate that is required to raise the statewide total 
local share.  The full-value education mill rate is calculated for each fiscal year by 
dividing the applicable statewide total local share by the applicable statewide 
valuation.  The full-value education mill rate must decline over the period from fiscal 
year 2005-06 to fiscal year 2008-09 and may not exceed 9.0 mills in fiscal year 2005-
and may not exceed 8.0 mills in fiscal year 2008-09.  The full-value education mill 
rate must be applied according to section 15688, subsection 3-A, paragraph A to 
determine a municipality's local cost share expectation.  Full-value education mill 
rates must be derived according to the following schedule.
(1)  For the 2005 property tax year, the full-value education mill rate is the 
amount necessary to result in a 47.4% statewide total local share in fiscal year 
2005-06.
(2)  For the 2006 property tax year, the full-value education mill rate is the 
amount necessary to result in a 46.14% statewide total local share in fiscal year 
2006-07.
(3)  For the 2007 property tax year, the full-value education mill rate is the 
amount necessary to result in a 46.49% statewide total local share in fiscal year 
2007-08.
(4)  For the 2008 property tax year, the full-value education mill rate is the 
amount necessary to result in a 47.48% statewide total local share in fiscal year 
2008-09.
(4-A)  For the 2009 property tax year, the full-value education mill rate is the 
amount necessary to result in a 51.07% statewide total local share in fiscal year 
2009-10.
(4-B)  For the 2010 property tax year, the full-value education mill rate is the 
amount necessary to result in a 54.16% statewide total local share in fiscal year 
2010-11.
(4-C)  For the 2011 property tax year, the full-value education mill rate is the 
amount necessary to result in a 53.98% statewide total local share in fiscal year 
2011-12.
(5)  For the 2012 property tax year, the full-value education mill rate is the 
amount necessary to result in a 54.13% statewide total local share in fiscal year 
2012-13.
(6)  For the 2013 property tax year, the full-value education mill rate is the 
amount necessary to result in a 52.71% statewide total local share in fiscal year 
2013-14.
(7)  For the 2014 property tax year, the full-value education mill rate is the 
amount necessary to result in a 53.20% statewide total local share in fiscal year 
2014-15.
(8)  For the 2015 property tax year, the full-value education mill rate is the 
amount necessary to result in a 52.46% statewide total local share in fiscal year 
2015-16.
(9)  For the 2016 property tax year, the full-value education mill rate is the 
amount necessary to result in a 51.86% statewide total local share in fiscal year 
2016-17.
(10)  For the 2017 property tax year, the full-value education mill rate is the 
amount necessary to result in a 50.86% statewide total local share in fiscal year 
2017-18.
(11)  For the 2018 property tax year, the full-value education mill rate is the 
amount necessary to result in a 50.50% statewide total local share in fiscal year 
2018-19.
(12)  For the 2019 property tax year and subsequent tax years, the full-value 
education mill rate is the amount necessary to result in a 45% statewide total 
local share in fiscal year 2019-20 and after.
Sec. 2.  20-A MRSA §15671-A, sub-§2-A is enacted to read:
2-A.  Local cost share expectation based upon pupil count.  Beginning in fiscal 
year 2020-21, for the purpose of calculating the local cost share expectation for regional 
school units, the commissioner shall calculate the statewide per-pupil rate that is required 
to raise the statewide total local share. The statewide per-pupil rate is calculated for each 
fiscal year by dividing the applicable statewide total local share by the statewide pupil 
count for the previous fiscal year.
Sec. 3.  20-A MRSA §15672, sub-§31-A, as enacted by PL 2005, c. 2, Pt. D, §36 
and affected by §§72 and 74 and c. 12, Pt. WW, §18, is amended to read:
31-A.  State subsidy.  "State subsidy" means the total of the state contribution 
determined under section 15688, subsection 3-A, paragraph B or paragraph B-2 and any 
applicable adjustment under section 15689.
Sec. 4.  20-A MRSA §15688, sub-§3-A, as amended by PL 2015, c. 494, Pt. A, 
§13, is further amended to read:
3-A.  School administrative unit; contribution.  For each school administrative 
unit, the commissioner shall annually determine the school administrative unit's required 
contribution, the required contribution of each municipality that is a member of the unit, 
if the unit has more than one member, and the State's contribution to the unit's total cost 
of education in accordance with the following.
A.  For a school administrative unit composed of only one municipality, the 
contribution of the unit and the municipality is the same and is the lesser of:
(1)  The total cost of education described in subsection 1; and
(2)  The total of the full-value education mill rate calculated in section 15671-A, 
subsection 2 multiplied by the property fiscal capacity of the municipality.
B.  For a school administrative district, or community school district or regional 
school unit composed of more than one municipality, each municipality's contribution 
to the total cost of education is the lesser of:
(1)  The municipality's total cost of education as described in subsection 2; and
(2)  The total of the full-value education mill rate calculated in section 15671-A, 
subsection 2 multiplied by the property fiscal capacity of the municipality.
B-2.  For a regional school unit composed of more than one municipality, each 
municipality's contribution to the total cost of education is the lesser of:
(1)  The municipality's total cost of education as described in subsection 2; and
(2)  Beginning in fiscal year 2020-21:
(a)  For fiscal year 2020-21, the sum of:
(i)  Two-thirds of the total of the full-value education mill rate calculated 
in section 15671-A, subsection 2 multiplied by the property fiscal 
capacity of the municipality; and
(ii)  One-third of the statewide per-pupil rate calculated in section 
15671-A, subsection 2-A multiplied by the number of school level pupils 
who reside in the municipality and who are educated at public expense at 
a public school or at a private school approved for tuition purposes;
(b)  For fiscal year 2021-22, the sum of:
(i)  One-third of the total of the full-value education mill rate calculated 
in section 15671-A, subsection 2 multiplied by the property fiscal 
capacity of the municipality; and
(ii)  Two-thirds of the statewide per-pupil rate calculated in section 
15671-A, subsection 2-A multiplied by the number of school level pupils 
who reside in the municipality and who are educated at public expense at 
a public school or at a private school approved for tuition purposes; and
(c) For fiscal year 2022-23 and subsequent years, the statewide per-pupil rate 
calculated in section 15671-A, subsection 2-A multiplied by the number of 
school level pupils who reside in the municipality and who are educated at 
public expense at a public school or at a private school approved for tuition 
purposes.
C.  For a school administrative district, community school district or regional school 
unit composed of more than one municipality, the unit's contribution to the total cost 
of education is the lesser of:
(1)  The total cost as described in subsection 1; and
(2)  The sum of the totals calculated for each member municipality pursuant to 
paragraph B, subparagraph (2) or paragraph B-2, subparagraph (2), as applicable.
D.  The state contribution to the school administrative unit's total cost of education is 
the total cost of education calculated pursuant to subsection 1 less the school 
administrative unit's contribution calculated pursuant to paragraph A or C, as 
applicable.  The state contribution is subject to reduction in accordance with section 
15690, subsection 1, paragraph C.
SUMMARY
This bill amends the method by which the share of the total cost of education from 
kindergarten to grade 12 is calculated for a municipality that is within a regional school 
unit. Current law establishes that share as the lesser of the municipality's total cost of 
education as determined under the Maine Revised Statutes, Title 20-A, section 15688, 
subsection 1 and an amount equal to the product of the education mill rate for the 
municipality multiplied by the total valuation of property in the municipality. This bill 
instead determines the share of the total cost of education from kindergarten to grade 12 
of a municipality within a regional school unit based upon the product of the statewide 
per-pupil rate calculated under Title 20-A, section 15671-A, subsection 2-A and the 
number of pupils in the municipality who reside in the municipality and who are educated 
at public expense. The bill phases in this method of determining a municipality's share of 
the total cost of education from kindergarten to grade 12 over 3 years: in fiscal year 2020-
21, the total cost is 2/3 of the amount determined based on property values and 1/3 of the 
amount determined based on number of pupils; in fiscal year 2021-22, the total cost is 1/3 
of the amount determined based on property values and 2/3 of the amount determined 
based on number of pupils; and, in fiscal year 2022-23 and subsequent years, the total 
cost is determined based entirely on number of pupils.