ROCKPORT — After months of closed door meetings, consultations with attorneys and finally, mediation with Duward Parkinson, the towns of Camden and Rockport, along with School Administrative District 28, have come to an agreement over the $1.5 million district assessment error that over-taxed Rockport and under-taxed Camden for more than a decade of public education costs.

In short, and with details still pending, the agreement as outlined Tuesday night, March 9, arranges for $750,000 to be paid by Camden to SAD 28 over eight years. SAD 28, in turn, will give that money back to Rockport. Additionally, SAD 28, which educates Camden and Rockport students in grades K-8, is to give Rockport another $150,000.

Liberty Mutual, the insurance company for SAD 28, is to pay $100,000 of the $150,000 and SAD 28 will pay $50,000 from its current budget’s board contingency line, according to Superintendent Maria Libby.

The consent decree reads:

The Rockport Select Board held an executive session March 9 to vote on a consent agreement between the towns and SAD 28. After exiting executive session, a motion was made by Debra Hall, and seconded by Denise Munger,  “approve the consent decree between the Town of Rockport, the Town of Camden and SAD 28 to be entered in the litigation currently pending in Knox County Superior Court Docket No. CV-20-40”

All five board members approved the motion.

The three entities issued the following statement at 9:45 p.m., March 9:

The Select Boards of the Town of Camden and the Town of Rockport together with the M.S.A.D. 28 School Board would like to announce that we have come to a resolution regarding the tax assessment error in which the school district for multiple years mistakenly overcharged the town of Rockport for their portion of the district's budget and undercharged the Town of Camden.

The Town of Camden has agreed to refund Maine School Administrative District 28, as part of a special assessment, the sum of $750,000 in eight equal consecutive annual installments which will be rebated by the M.S.A.D. 28 to the Town of Rockport. In addition, the school district has agreed to contribute an additional one time payment of $150,000 to Rockport upon the court’s order approving this agreement.

Moving forward the leadership of Camden, Rockport, and the Camden Rockport School District are committed to a more connected and cohesive relationship — one where we can communicate openly to reduce problems and conflicts and share questions and concerns. Our first step will be quarterly leadership meetings between the leadership of the towns of Camden, Rockport, and the Camden Rockport School Board.

We thank the community for your understanding and your patience during this trying time.

The problem, which resulted in a lawsuit filed by Rockport against Camden and SAD 28 in Knox County Superior Court, rests on the fact that Rockport was over-billed from 2009-2010 until 2019-2020 because of an inaccurate cost-sharing calculation formula. It was identified in August, and the 2020-2021 $17 million budget was quickly readjusted so that Rockport would pay its share for this current school year less $422,784.

Any public discussion about the issue, which surfaced in late summer 2020, quickly was halted once the court complaint was filed.

A Knox County Superior Court judge issued two stays on the case, with the stipulation it would go to mediation March 1.

Reach Editorial Director Lynda Clancy at lyndaclancy@penbaypilot.com; 207-706-6657