By Ward Peck
Editor
    Each year during budget season, Cape Elizabeth residents are reminded that they get a great value for the their tax dollars; that it costs other municipalities more money to provide the same level of service and while it may be Maine’s “Gold Coast” it’s government is hardly “gold-plated.”
    But if you are not willing to take town official’s word for it, each year Town Manager Michael McGovern produces an annual “Benchmark survey,” which compares 80 different pieces of financial data in ten different southern Maine communities to see how Cape Elizabeth stacks up. The result is a treasure trove for numbers people in not just Cape Elizabeth but other municipalities whose own officials may not be so eager to go head to head with their neighbors in measuring efficiency.
    The bench mark study, which can be found on the Cape Elizabeth town web site, compares the town with both its geographic neighbors of Scarborough and South Portland, demographic neighbors such as Falmouth, Cumberland, Yarmouth and Freeport as well as several communities whose connection to Cape Elizabeth is less clear, such as Brunswick, Gorham and Windham.
    In terms of population, the town ranked seventh on the list, with 8,922 people in 2005, just above Yarmouth’s 8,257 and just below Falmouth’s 10,601, but the six highest tax assessment in 2006 ($20.3 million). Falmouth ranked fourth ($25.4 million) and Yarmouth ranked fifth ($22.7 million) in this measure Gorham with a population (15,300) almost double that of Cape Elizabeth had a tax assessment of $17 million– lower than all but tiny Cumberland (population 7,656).
On a per-capita basis, Cape Elizabeth residents paid more in property taxes ($2,278) than the average of the 10 communities ($1,963). The community with the highest per capita tax assessment was Yarmouth and the lowest per capita tax assessment was achieved by Gorham, which at $1,120 is less than half that of Cape Elizabeth.
The benchmark study reveals one possible reason for Gorham’s low tax burden is that the state pays almost two-thirds of Gorham’s $26 million school budget last year. The state paid less than one-fifth of Cape Elizabeth’s $17.6 million school budget.
But education spending isn’t the only area where other towns rely on to a higher degree than Cape Elizabeth on other sources of revenue. The study shows Cape Elizabeth’s town government relies on property tax payers to fund 72 percent of the general fund, which is significantly higher than the 66.2 percent average. Gorham receives more than 50 percent of its general fund revenue from other levels of government (state and federal for example).
On the school side Cape Elizabeth spends more of its school budget, 71 percent, on instruction than all the other communities, but less than the average in terms of dollar amount. Cape Elizabeth spends less than the average in terms of both percentage of budget (eight percent versus 8.5 percent) and dollar amount per student $761 versus $865) on administration costs. Scarborough, by comparison, blows away the competition on both measures, spending just $521 per student or 5.6 percent of the budget in administration costs.
    On a per student basis, Cape Elizabeth is in the middle of the pack in terms of total school budget, with the fifth lowest per student costs at $9,468 and less than the average of $10,154. While Yarmouth has the second to lowest total school budget ($17 million), squeaking under Cape Elizabeth, it paid the highest on a per student basis– $2,600 more per student than Cape Elizabeth.
    South Portland, by comparison had the highest overall total school budget ($36.2 million), the second highest per-student cost ($11,775) and the third lowest state share of education costs (17.3 percent).