Information from the AAPS Website:
Voters in the Ann Arbor Public School District will be asked to consider a bond proposal to upgrade school facilities and sites, enhance existing building security, and provide upgraded and sustainable learning environments throughout our district.
The bond program scope is based on a comprehensive facility assessment conducted by independent architects and engineers to assess the current and future building needs in our district. The $1 Billion Bond proposal will be used to improve the school district’s infrastructure and learning environments for the next 20 years.
Here are Frequently Asked questions on the Bond Proposal.
This is an article from Mlive.com with a school-by-school assessment of needs:
Check the health of Ann Arbor Public Schools' 35 buildings ahead of $1B bond vote
By Martin Slagter | mslagter@mlive.com
What are school bonds and why do we need them?
Not wanting to appear ignorant, I am reluctant to ask obvious questions about things that other people seem so confident in knowing. It did occur to me, however, that I had only a vague idea of what a school bond does and why we might need one.
First of all, Michigan is one of only 12 states in the country that does not provide state funding for school infrastructure.
Our schools are funded primarily by local property taxes, called millages. A mill is 1/1000 of a dollar. Property taxes are computed by multiplying the taxable value of the property by the number of mills levied.
Major infrastructure improvements to schools are funded by school bonds. A bond is like a mortgage that makes funding available now or in the near future. Bonds are sold as an investment and paid back with interest to bond holders with millage increases that are approved by voters in millage elections.
I found this article on school bonds that gives a straightforward explanation on how they work and what they do:
How Do School Bonds Work?
By: Nick Robinson
Reviewed by: Michelle Seidel, B.Sc., LL.B., MBA
Updated November 08, 2018
“School systems don't usually have a lot of extra cash on hand, so when they want to make large capital expenditures like building new facilities or making major repairs, they have to borrow money. School bonds are a way for school districts to borrow money. Investors buy promissory notes like school bonds. The school district gets cash in the short term and agrees to pay the investor back over a fixed period of time.”
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The AAPS website includes more information, including the estimated cost to homeowners and a schedule of events where the issue will be discussed.
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FYI: Due to the passage of the statewide ballot proposal in November 2018, all eligible and registered voters in Michigan may now request an absent voter ballot without providing a reason.
See the League of Women Voters "vote 411" Website for personalized voting information.
On February 17, 2011, Michigan's Governor Rick Snyder laid out his budget proposal for fiscal year 2012. FY 2012 begins October 1, 2011.
There is some good news in the proposal for people with developmental disabilities. This is from an AnnArbor.com report on the highlights of the governor's budget:
- Medicaid eligibility is maintained and provider reimbursement rates are supported without reductions to preserve health care and access for those most vulnerable.
- A Medicaid budget that is funded at $11.2 billion, reflecting the institution of a new 1 percent health care insurance assessment on all paid health care and dental insurance claims.
- The preservation of over $1.4 billion in funding for programs that assist nearly 55,000 special education students, as well as $1.2 billion for core education programs such as services for academically at-risk students and adult education.
Schools and Universities, however, will be taking a big hit in the proposed plan. K-12 funding will be reduced by 5 % or $500 million. The state will encourage schools to adopt "best practices" that generate savings on medical benefits for employees and reduce spending on "non-instructional" services. It remains to be seen whether there are additional savings to be squeezed out of already stressed school district budgets.
Another problem is the "elimination of statutory revenue sharing payments for cities, villages and townships in fiscal year 2012 to be replaced with a new incentive-based revenue sharing program available to cities, villages and townships that meet state standards and adopt best practices." This amounts to a reduction of nearly one-third of revenue sharing funding available to local governments. Local governments will have less to spend on safety, fire protection, and other local services and the mental health system will have more difficulty serving people who are not eligible for Medicaid. They will not be able to shore up the mental health system to provide services that are needed but not necessarily mandated or covered by Medicaid. This exacerbates the problem of declining revenues from property taxes for local governments. A more detailed analysis of the impact on Washtenaw County is covered in an article from AnnArbor.com.
There will also be less money available for poor people with the elimination of Michigan's contribution to the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC). Snyder says that the money saved will go into maintaining Medicaid and other services for the poor, but Stephen Henderson, a columnist for the Detroit Free Press has a good point: while the budget calls for eliminating tax breaks for wealthier people, "poor people will take a bigger hit, relatively speaking than everyone else". This will also effect small businesses, especially in Detroit where the EITC reduction will take $330 million out of the local economy.
In an interview with the Detroit Free Press, the Governor explains the thinking behind the balancing act that his administration did to justify the changes he is proposing. Last Sunday's Detroit Free Press editorial page, not known for its support of Republican budget initiatives, is surprisingly mild in its criticism of the governor's proposals. Michigan's budget problems have been long in the making and there is a tendency to hope, perhaps beyond reason, that these proposals will help.
The Governor's non-ideological approach to Michigan's problems and his eclectic method of problem-solving are mulled over by Free Press columnist Brian Dickerson in his assessment of the governor as "A mild-mannered radical". Dickerson foresees the possibility of attacks from both ends of the political spectrum, but says that "Snyder's ace in the hole is the voters' widely shared conviction that Michigan's fiscal disease cries out for nothing less than radical surgery."
So far, the governor appears to have avoided a full-frontal Wisconsin-style assault on public employee unions, but one can expect that local adjustments will inevitably lead to losses in wages and benefits for public agency employees, if the governor's budget is adopted.
According to an article in AnnArbor.com, the opponents of the WISD millage proposal are outspending proponents by nearly $30,000. Most of the money has come from McKinley, an Ann Arbor real estate company.
Albert Berriz is the treasurer of Citizens for Responsible Washtenaw, an organization opposing the millage that would raise operational funds for local school districts. He is also CEO and president of McKinley.
Berriz was one of two community members on AnnArbor.com's editorial board, but resigned the position due to his involvement in the school enhancement millage campaign. AnnArbor.com.
AnnArbor.com came out against the millage on October 25, 2009.
The Washtenaw Intermediate School District millage election is on Tuesday, November 3rd, 2009.
On Tuesday, November 3rd, 2009, voters will be asked to approve a millage increase proposal for the Washtenaw Intermediate School District (WISD). Although a large part of what the WISD does is related to special education, the purpose of this millage is to enhance operational expenses for all students in the 10 school districts in Washtenaw County. All funds raised will be passed on to local school districts. Neither the WISD nor the state will receive funding from this millage.
For a thorough report on the proposed millage, the reasons for it, the pros and cons, and background information on state and local funding for K-12 education, I recommend the article in the Ann Arbor Chronicle by Mary Morgan entitled Does It Take a Millage?, October 19, 2009. It includes links to more detailed information and websites supporting and opposing the millage.
AnnArbor.com also provides coverage of the issue here.
According to the Ann Arbor Chronicle article:
- The proposal on the ballot calls for collecting 2 mills countywide, each year for five years. A mill is $1 for every $1,000 in a property’s taxable value (about half the market value). For a home in Ann Arbor with a market value of $200,000, an increase of 2 mills would add about $200 to the $1700 now paid in school taxes. The increase would raise $30 million to be distributed among the county’s 10 school districts based on the number of pupils in each district.
- State control of education funding: In 1994 with the passage of Proposal A, the state, with the approval of the voters, took away much of the local control of school funding in exchange for easing escalating local property taxes and creating more equitable funding across the state. Proposal A put a cap of 18 mills on local property taxes for schools, although school districts can raise additional local millages for building construction, repairs, and maintenance.
- Plugging holes in the state School Aid Fund (SAF): The School Aid Fund is made up of pooled revenues from property taxes, sales, income taxes, and other sources. The state pays a per-pupil-allotment out of this fund which is a variable rate set by the legislature. With declining revenues for the SAF, the fund has been shrinking. The amount available for the current fiscal year is still in dispute and it is possible that as state revenues fall, further cuts could be made later in the year. In the past, money from the state’s General Fund has been used to plug holes in the SAF, but the General Fund revenues are declining sharply. Federal stimulus money has also been used, but is not expected to be available beyond the 2010-11 fiscal year.
- Local school districts: School districts are still uncertain about how much money they have available this year and are even less certain about what happens next year. The state caps the amount that can be raised from local taxes for operating expenses, but the Washtenaw Intermediate School District is authorized to levy enhancement millages for operating expenses. The millage increase is being proposed to fill the gaps in state and local funding to maintain quality education and to provide some stability in funding over the next 5 years.
- Pros & Cons: Opponents of the millage contend that the schools have not made sufficient changes to lower their spending and that residents are in no shape to absorb additional taxes. Supporters of the millage say that the schools have been cutting expenses and consolidating services as well as getting some concessions from the unions. They also point to the importance of maintaining quality education to promoting economic development in the county.
Everyone agrees that changes are needed at the state level. Among those changes suggested are moving to a graduated income tax, expanding the state sales tax to services, controlling retirement costs, and considering changing term limits for legislators, all of which would help in the state’s overall financial crisis.
Information on elections in Washtenaw County here.
Information on polling locations here.
Jill Barker
Friends of the Developmentally Disabled
jillrbarker@sbcglobal.net
