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Public commenter urges IAC to reconsider school-construction funding formula that reduces Kent County’s share
Summary
Public commenter Mike Waal told commissioners the Interagency Committee’s proposed formula shifts Kent County from a 50% cost share to 75% and asked the board to request an exception or retroactive application to fiscal 2026 so shovel-ready projects would qualify.
A public commenter urged the board to press the Interagency Committee (IAC) considering new school-construction funding formulas to adjust its proposed methodology, which he said disadvantages Kent County.
Mike Waal, a Tallchester resident and frequent public commenter, presented a spreadsheet analysis he said was included in the IAC packet. Waal described a new column, labeled in his materials as "untapped tax revenue," that the IAC added to its calculations and said the committee then applied a blanket +25 percentage-point increase to counties in a shaded category. "We're at $77 per person... and we are at currently 50%, and they've increased it by 25% so we're at 75%," Waal said, arguing Kent County is being unfairly moved into a higher state cost-share category because the formula divides a small county population into wealth measures.
Waal asked the board to request that IAC staff (Alex Donahue was named) present the formula and consider exceptional, county-level adjustments so Kent County would be treated similarly to counties with comparable wealth. He said he would speak with IAC staff and that the committee planned to vote the following Thursday; he also asked commissioners to request retroactive application to fiscal 2026 so shovel-ready projects could capture the higher funding share now rather than waiting until fiscal 2028. Commissioners thanked Waal for the analysis; no formal board action was taken at the meeting.
