BELGRADE -- Town Manager Dennis Keschl makes no secret about one of the chief reasons he supported the partnership between School Administrative District 47 and China: local-education funding.

The formula the district uses to determine the share of additional local funds causes Belgrade to pay the largest share of that expense in SAD 47. The same will hold true when China joins SAD 47 next year to form Regional School Unit 18.

Under the RSU bylaws, however, that formula, which is based solely on municipal-property value, could be changed after the initial three years of the school system.

"I believe the RSU will help us move toward a more equitable distribution of local-education funding," Keschl said.

What is equitable is in the eye of the particular taxpayer, however, SAD 47 Superintendent James C. Morse Sr. said.

The five towns that will constitute RSU 18 on July 1 spent $3.6 million in additional local funds for the 2008-09 school year, which means local education dollars beyond what the state mandates.

Belgrade contributed about $1 million, 27.6 percent of the total. Rome, which added $472,561, was on the low end at 12.93 percent.

Yet Morse said that the additional local funds raised by each community has an identical effect on the tax rate, taking a $1.86 bite from every $1,000 worth of property value.

That means a person with a $100,000 home pays $186 for education costs beyond what the state requires.

Calculated on a per-pupil basis, however, the effect differs widely.

Rome is a community with high property values -- largely the result of lakeside homes that have skyrocketed in value -- and a small number of students (149) relative to the other RSU towns.

The net effect is a per-pupil cost of $3,171 in Rome. This is nearly five times the per-pupil expense in Oakland ($661), a town with a large student population (1,061) and a relatively low municipal valuation.

Belgrade, which has 553 students, pays an average of $1,826 per pupil, the second-highest rate among the RSU towns. China ($1,186) and Sidney ($756) both pay an average that is less than Belgrade's but higher than Oakland's.

That is the measure of financial effect that Keschl considers relevant. He argues it's proof that the funding formula is unfair.

Oakland Town Council Chairman Ralph Farnham Jr. disagrees.

"Their capability of getting (tax) dollars is much greater than ours is," Farnham said, noting that Belgrade's valuation, or taxable-property value, is much greater than Oakland's municipal worth.

That is true. Belgrade's current valuation is $542 million, while Oakland's is just under $377 million.

Farnham opposed consolidation with China because forming an RSU brought the potential for changing the formula governing additional local funds. Making student count part of the formula would increase costs for Oakland, he said.

Rome selectmen, on the other hand, supported the RSU proposal for the same reason.

"It is a hard situation," First Selectman Robert Moreau said. "We have a small number of students. It is pretty expensive for what we are getting."

Rome would see its per-pupil costs decrease if student count were part of the equation.

RSU bylaws call for forming a committee by July 2011 to recommend a cost-sharing formula for raising additional local funds. Ultimately, residents in the five towns would approve or reject the recommendation in a referendum vote.

If the recommendation is defeated, a new cost-sharing formula automatically would be phased in, beginning in fiscal year 2013, that eventually would make student count 25 percent of the equation.

"There is not a right or wrong answer," Morse said of the funding formula. "It's more a question of how local communities want to share cost. The funding formula is really a local agreement on how they want to fund schools. The (school) district itself doesn't have a horse in the race. It is really a town-to-town issue."

Colin Hickey -- 861-9205

chickey@centralmaine.com