A millage renewal worth $5.4 million to the Oxford school district will be placed in hands of voters on the Nov. 7 ballot.
‘Given the substantial amount of the budget that this represents, needless to say it would be a devastating blow to the school district if we don’t get this renewal,? said Tim Loock, Oxford Schools executive director for business and finance.
The 10-year, 18-mill tax on non-homestead properties that voters approved in 1996 is set to expire with the December 2006 levy.
Non-homestead properties include businesses, commercial and industrial properties, rental properties, vacant land, second homes and vacation homes. Exempt from this category, and hence this school tax, are principal residences (i.e. the home you live in full-time) and qualified agricultural property.
As a result of the millage’s coming expiration, the school district is asking voters to renew the entire 18-mill tax for another 10 years, which means 2007 through 2016. If approved, the millage would generate $5.4 million in 2007, the first year of the renewed levy.
‘We’re asking the voters to renew exactly what was approved 10 years ago,? Loock said.
Without this millage renewal, the school district would lose $5.4 million, which equals approximately 15 percent of its revenue. The millage helps pay for things like supplies, textbooks, salaries, utilities, transportation, etc.
‘It’s a very important part of the Oxford Schools operating budget and without it, we wouldn’t be the Oxford school district that people know us as now,? said Loock. It’s loss would have ‘a huge impact, no question about it.?
‘It will mean a great deal in terms of our ability to maintain our current level of funding and current level of programming,? said Oxford Superintendent Virginia Brennan-Kyro. ‘It’s essential.?
While the vast majority of the school district’s annual funding comes from the state (approximately 85 percent), Lansing assumes the district is levying and collecting 18 mills on its local non-homestead properties to make up the difference.
‘This millage is a result of Proposal A, of the changing in school funding from 1994,? Brennan-Kyro explained.
Proposal A allowed school districts to levy up to 18 mills on non-homestead properties for operating purposes.
Brennan-Kyro said this millage renewal is completely separate from the 2.3549-mill increase voters passed in May 2005 to restore the non-homestead tax to its full 18 mills.
‘I think one of the things that is important for people to understand is this is not like the restoration millage that we did,? she said. ‘This is the first time we’ve gone for the 18-mill renewal.?
Had voters rejected the 2.3549-mill increase last year, the district still would have been able to continue levying the Headlee Amendment reduced rate of 15.6451 mills on non-homesteads.
If voters reject this 18-mill renewal in November, the district won’t be able to levy any property tax whatsoever on non-homesteads beginning next year.
‘It means $5.4 million to our school district,? Brennan-Kyro said.
That’s why she said, ‘We’re just trying to focus all our energies in getting the millage passed ? getting the word out that it’s an important renewal for us and looking for the support of the community.?
‘We’re just trying to make sure people understand what this is and how it’s going to help Oxford kids,? she said.
Informing the public on this issue is especially critical given the long ballot voters will face in the Nov. 7 general election, the superintendent explained.
‘There’s a lot more information on the ballot and we need to make sure people understand the various proposals because my understanding is there’s like nine proposals (state and local) that are going to be on the ballot,? she said.