Someone has pointed out a new post on a local forum that piles onto my criticism of the tax rate issue by reinforcing the fact that the “Local School” portion of the tax rate is only 36% of our total rate.  While I appreciate the support, full disclosure is always the best approach.

Mr. Bowers sent me a breakdown of the tax rate and pointed out that he is talking about the combination of the “Local School” and “State Education Tax” rates.  I have acknowledge that is indeed greater than the town portion.  In fact, it is 55% of the total tax rate.  Not what I would call the “Vast Majority” of our taxes, but certainly the majority.  The statewide average is 63% for education.

None of that really has any bearing on our situation.  It’s a distraction from the real statistic which is that the town portion of our tax rate is about average.  In fact, if this year’s rate had not been reduced by a surplus from last year, we would be slightly above average for all cities and towns.

In our case, the large number of expensive seasonal homes has served to minimize education costs.

The schools are not responsible for higher taxes, they are the reason we have lower taxes.

But the blame has no home as the BOS points the finger at them and argues for blowing the windfall on a pile of bricks.