ARUNDEL — Withdrawal from RSU 21 could leave
Arundel taxpayers paying more in the years to come, an expert hired by
the town told officials and audience members Tuesday night.
"Leaving
the RSU would systematically disadvantage Arundel," Charles Lawton,
consultant from Planning Decisions, said at the Oct. 2 joint Withdrawal
Committee and Board of Selectmen meeting, held at Mildred L. Day School.
The net result of the analysis, Lawton said, is
that a solely Arundel budget — including amortization for a $4.5
million dollar renovation project at Mildred L. Day school, and
maintenance of existing programs — would cost the taxpayers of Arundel
just over $5.4 million with a local assessed value of $13.77 for every
$1,000 in property value.
By comparison, the
taxpayers of Arundel would pay just under $5.4 million dollars under a
cost sharing agreement based on 60 percent property value and 40 percent
student population, including the town's share of the amortization for
the full $57.5 million proposed capital improvement program to renovate
district schools. That would result in a local assessed value $13.63 per
every $1,000 local taxable property value.
However,
if the new capital improvement program were allocated on a 90 percent
property, 10 percent student population basis, the local cost would drop
to just over $5.1 million and the cost per $1,000 local taxable
property value would drop to $12.86.
But Lawton's numbers are not fool-proof, he warned.
"This
is largely an exercise in understanding the rules of the game. I will
not and do not recommend one option or the other," Lawton said.
