Governor Deval Patrick, in a series of recent interviews and public speeches, appears to be laying the groundwork for an overhaul of state education funding, venturing into a complex and politically treacherous arena that involves a significant portion of the state budget and each homeowner's pocketbook.

At an appearance before the Massachusetts Association of School Committees yesterday, Patrick issued some of his most pointed comments to date, saying the state can no longer afford to rely on the local property tax to fund public education.

"It seems to me the time is at hand, and the appetite is right among you and the folks you represent and so many others, to get back to basics and figure out how to do this right," Patrick said. "The property tax is not working."

"And there's an urgency, it seems to me, we ought to have about this, too," he added.

Patrick did not reveal, however, any specific ideas about accomplishing the goal, including which other tax or revenue source should be used to provide relief to homeowners. His aides also declined to provide any details.

Under the existing system, school districts are financed with a combination of local property taxes and state aid, which is distributed by a highly complex formula that has long been subject to legislative tussles over how much different communities receive. The pressure on the local property tax in recent years has chafed cities and towns, as the cost of healthcare has ballooned and state aid -- despite recent increases -- has not kept up with inflation.

Currently, the state covers less than 40 percent of the cost of local education, with cities and towns picking up the rest through the property tax. While it is a stable source of revenue, it places a sometimes difficult burden on the elderly or people with fixed incomes, and some argue it increases the disparity between communities based on personal income and property value.

Recently, Patrick has called for a change in the financing system, while discussing a comprehensive education reform plan he hopes to release in June. The plan, he has said, will set new goals for the state's schools and determine how much it would cost to accomplish them.

Earlier this year, Patrick, who promised during last year's campaign to review the financing system , appointed a task force to advise him on a variety of education issues.

While the group focused mainly on how the education system should be structured and governed, according to Paul Reville, an education policy specialist who led the group, it also held two brainstorming sessions on education finance. "There were a predictable array of solutions, from moving away from property taxes to a greater reliance on state funding, to an exploration of state funding mechanisms, to then thinking about distribution formulas," he said.

"None of it coalesced around a particular set of arrangements or proposals, nor did the governor or the governor's staff submit to us anything that indicated the direction" he would like to go, Reville said.

Michael Widmer, president of the Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation , said substantially lowering property tax rates would be a herculean task.

"You have to find major new revenue," he said. "Even with casinos, I don't think it would be enough. I think the only way you could do it is to raise the income tax or the sales tax."

And small increases to broad-based taxes, he added, would only provide modest property tax relief to homeowners.

Changes in the tax structure could also be difficult for Patrick to get through the Legislature, whose Democratic leadership is sensitive to being labeled as tax-and-spenders.

Citing economic concerns, House Speaker Salvatore F. DiMasi has sharply criticized a Patrick proposal to close so-called corporate tax loopholes to balance the budget and eventually fund property tax cuts.

DiMasi has also expressed reservations about Patrick's plan to help cities and towns reduce their reliance on property taxes by giving communities new authority to raise modest local levies on rooms and meals.

In the 1970s, Widmer said, there were a number of serious proposals to replace some local property tax revenue with state income or sales tax revenue, but the Legislature could never reach agreement on any of them. Making the case that one tax should replace another is difficult, he said.

Senator Robert A. Antonioni, cochairman of the Joint Education Committee and a member of the governor's task force, said he did not think there was any appetite in the Legislature for raising the sales or income tax. But he said the governor's desire to relieve the burden on the property tax is "on target," given the apparent frustration among homeowners.

He said the Legislature should give serious consideration to Patrick's Municipal Partnership Act, which would give cities and towns more tools to save money and raise revenues, as well as his proposal to close the so-called loopholes.

The House, however, rejected Patrick's corporate tax proposal as part of the budget it approved last week, and Senate President Therese Murray has said her chamber will follow suit when it presents it budget later this month.

More immediately, the Legislature plans to deliver an additional $220 million to local schools next year as part of a local aid package of more than $5 billion.

Geoff Beckwith, executive director of the Massachusetts Municipal Association, said his group would support additional state taxes to help pay for education and local aid. But he said easing the burden on property taxes could take time.

"The property tax pays for a higher share of local services than at any point in 25 years," he said. "Just as it has taken us many years to get to a very bad position, it will take several years of discipline and consistently higher levels of local aid to get us where we want to be."

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