MOUNT DESERT — Selectmen here were taken to task at their Monday meeting regarding a letter they sent out islandwide insisting that the high school funding formula be altered.

“There has been a lot of shoe-banging on the table with no constructive ideas.” — jim bright

As a representative of the town, Mr. Bright has heard from many residents who take offense to both the letter, and the way selectmen have approached the ongoing funding formula debate, he said.

Acting chairman Patrick Smallidge has been the most vocal opponent of the high school funding formula. His rough language regarding the debate has upset several citizens, said Mr. Bright.

Mr. Smallidge responded by saying it is his intention to be civil, and that he did not recall using the statements in question.

The cost of funding the Mount Desert Island high school falls on the shoulders of the four island towns: Bar Harbor, Mount Desert, Tremont and Southwest Harbor. Education officials and the high school’s three other member towns support the formula.

The formula, based on 67 percent property valuation and 33 percent enrollment, has long been a contentious issue for selectmen and a few vocal residents who argue that it penalizes the property rich, child poor town.

Mount Desert residents first approved the funding formula in 1963 as a desired alternative to a state supported formula for the regional high school based on 100 percent valuation.

The letter drafted by selectmen calls for the towns to support a petition to amend the private and special act that created the high school in 1963. To alter that act, change would have to be made at the state level. Further, the letter demands that action be taken by Feb. 2, just prior to the annual high school budget meeting on Feb. 11.

“One would presume that’s not to be taken as a coincidence,” Bar Harbor school board member Brian Hubbell has said. High school officials fear that if the selectmen do not receive a favorable response from Bar Harbor, Tremont and Southwest Harbor, it could affect the outcome of that budget meeting.

If the high school’s member towns do not agree to sign the petition, selectmen say that they will take a “yet to be disclosed” action.

“By maintaining the status quo we will conclude that you do not support the question above and the Town of Mount Desert reserves the right to take whatever actions are necessary to seek redress,” reads the letter.

Officials in Southwest Harbor have rejected changing the formula. Officials in Bar Harbor and Tremont on Tuesday said they would not support amending the formula without seeing specific proposals first.

At the center of the Mount Desert selectmen’s argument is the assertion that the formula is unfair due to a disparity in per-pupil cost. The town of Mount Desert does pay more than double per student than the other member towns due to its high property valuation and low student enrollment, but actually contributes less per household than the other member towns.

Upon careful examination, many Mount Desert residents feel that the formula is fair and equitable.

“When I look at money that actually comes out of my pocket – actual cash dollars – as a neighbor, I don’t have anything to complain about,” said resident Jay Robbins. “My Bar Harbor neighbor is paying more than I am.”

During the course of the ongoing debate, School Union 98 Superintendent Rob Liebow and former Mount Desert tax assessor John Brushwien performed an exhaustive study of the funding formula. They found that a property owner in Mount Desert with a home worth $350,000 paid $380 in taxes toward the cost of education this year, while a property owner in Bar Harbor with a home of the same value paid $550. As home values increase, Mount Desert property owners continue to pay slightly less than Bar Harbor property owners with homes of the same value.

If judged by each town’s relative tax contribution, the formula is equitable. Under the formula, Mount Desert will raise 1.2 mills in tax effort to support the high school for the upcoming school year, while Bar Harbor, Southwest Harbor and Tremont will raise between 1.6 and 1.7 each.

In the past, selectmen have hinted they might withdraw from the regional high school. Without paying its hefty share of the school’s indebtedness and facing other penalties, withdrawal from the high school would be impossible under current legislation.