a question about verb tense/is or was?

["Cummings, Elizabeth" <CummEl -at- ncs -dot- com>]

Hi.  I don't even know how to explain this scenario--which presents some
challenges in conducting a worthwhile search of the archives, of manuals of
style, and so forth.

Which of the following phrases is correct/better/the one to use--and why?
Nevermind the wordiness of these definitions; I'm well aware of it.  I just
need input on whether to use present or past tense here, and in similar
scenarios (a rule of thumb is most welcome.).  I think I should use the
present--because in the context of this situation, the submitted score will
never change--but "it sounds funny".

----
number of times the scorer submitted a score for a response that *is* one
point lower than that which another scorer submitted.

OR

number of times the scorer submitted a score for a student response that
*was* one point lower than that which another scorer submitted.
----

Thanks so much for your thoughts.  Your contributions to my rounding issue a
week or so ago helped me immensely!
--Elizabeth Cummings

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