AMHERST — A plan to maintain the same level of services at the Amherst Pelham Regional Schools next school year may depend on the four towns that make up the district coming to an agreement on how to divvy up their payments.
The issue of the assessment formula that will be used, and which will be acceptable to each community, remains a sticking point as school officials begin the process of developing a budget plan for the fiscal year that begins July 1.
Figures provided to the Regional School Committee this week by Finance Director Douglas Slaughter shows the budget going up by $1.26 million, or a 3.9% increase, from $31.91 million to $33.17 million, to maintain the same level of services.
But to align with the 2.5% assessment increase that Amherst can afford, it’s possible that $140,000 to $220,000 would have to be cut from its payment. That reduction may or may not correspond to a reduction in the overall budget plan, Slaughter said.
Reaching an assessment method that is acceptable for Amherst, Leverett, Pelham and Shutesbury is still being discussed. On Feb. 10, representatives from the communities will convene for the second time in the past month to see if an agreement can be reached on the formula.
Superintendent Michael Morris told the committee Tuesday that his preference would be to reach consensus on an assessment formula that can be used every year. “We want to have a method that sustains,” Morris said.
The main methods that can be used are a statutory formula provided by the state, based in part on a town’s income and taxable property, a regional formula the four towns have agreed to, based strictly on each community’s enrollment, or a combination of the two.
For the current year, the assessment formula uses 65% of the so-called statutory method, with a 5-year rolling enrollment average added in.
Morris said the best way to smooth out the assessments would be to use the same method every year, as this would avoid big swings. He said if a modified statutory method were selected, a smoothing mechanism could be added that would place guardrails on how much more or how much less each town pays.
With discussions on the assessment formula contentious each year, Amherst representative Peter Demling said it could lead to an existential crisis, strain relationships and harm planning.
“Strategically, philosophically and in terms of thinking of the best interest of the region and our member towns, I think it makes a lot of sense to try to drive for a final resolution on the assessment method,” Demling said.
But he also cautioned that he doesn’t want to see cuts in the budget just so each town can afford the payments.
Morris said if the towns move to the full statutory method the schools might be able to use one-time federal funds, related to COVID, to ease the transition.
Amherst representative Allison McDonald said getting to modified statutory method is something she could support, even though Amherst has preferred the regional agreement method.
At the earlier four towns meeting in January, Shutesbury Select Board Chairwoman Rita Farrell said Shutesbury officials have been clear that the goal is to get to the 100% statutory method, with a 5-year rolling average.
“That’s the most fair and equitable approach,” Farrell said.
But Leverett Select Board member Julie Shively said that the regional method, where every town pays the same amount per student going to school, is better. Leverett’s concern, she said, is that if the district goes with the statutory formula, and some towns are unable to pay their assessments, the schools would be forced to make cuts that will degrade education
Under the various scenarios, Amherst At-Large Councilor Andy Steinberg, who serves on the Finance Committee, said Amherst shouldn’t be seen as being able to afford more than the other towns just because it is the most populous, and that its colleges and the University of Massachusetts make up sizable part of the land mass.
“We have a large percentage of land that is not taxable,” Steinberg said.
Pelham Finance Committee member John Trickey told officials the town will cover whichever method is chosen. “As usual, Pelham will pay its bills,” Trickey said.
Scott Merzbach can be reached at smerzbach@gazettenet.com.
