Area voters rejected the HAS s... HOLLY, Michigan – Holly Area School board members have a big decision to make on Aug. 20 after voters overwhelmingly rejected the sinking fund millage proposal as presented on the Aug. 7 primary election ballot.
A sinking fund millage is a limited property tax, and considered to be a “pay-as-you-go” method for addressing building remodeling project. Per state law, a district may levy up to 5 mills for no longer than 20 years. Additionally, the state has legal requirements, restrictions and guidelines for public school districts that plan to fund capital enhancements or facility repairs through sinking fund millage levies. Specifically, sinking fund monies could only be used to subsidize HAS facility repairs and maintenance, allowing the district to use what money would normally be spent on building and facility maintenance on a wide variety of programs and classes for students instead.
“I’m somewhat surprised that voters turned down the sinking fund,” HAS Superintendent Kent Barnes said. “Going forward, the board is going to have a big decision to make.”
Barnes said board members will have three options from which to choose including to put it back on the November ballot for another vote, putting it on a ballot in the next calendar year, or waiting until 2014 to put it before the voters again.
Kent Barnes, Superintendent fo...
“The board has until Aug. 28 to get it on the November ballot,” Barnes said. “If they went with the second option – that is putting it on a ballot in the next calendar year – the district would incur the election cost because there is no election scheduled for the next year.”
If no action is taken, Barnes said school programs could be put into jeopardy.
“If indeed something egregious should happen, then the board would have to review some of the school programs to determine which ones could be reduced or eliminated to offset the cost of maintaining our facilities,” Barnes said. “If a boiler goes in the winter or something like that, we’ll have no other choice – you have to have heat, and the money simply isn’t in the general fund to cover it – something will have to go.”
Barnes said projected maintenance costs to the HAS facilities over the next 10 years amount to more than $20 million.
Members of the Holly Area Schools Board of Education will discuss the matter at their upcoming Aug. 20 meeting at Holly Middle School, 920 Baird St., Holly. The meeting is at 7 p.m. and is open to the public.
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Comments
According to Mr. Barnes, there are legal constraints on what the fund can be used for. Mostly repairing the schools.
I find it impossible to believe that someone can't budget $10-$15 over the course of a year. You can do it, it's just not a priority for you.
To me, it's the equivalent of watching someone use their Bridge Card at the grocery checkout and then paying cash for their beer and cigarettes while talking on their smartphone with a $40/month data plan.
The next time my 2,815 neighbors that voted this down are wasting money at the local fast food drive thru or watching their cable TV, I hope you feel good about yourselves.
The per-pupil money spent on public education is at an all-time high. In 2008 dollars, we spent $2,808/pupil in 1962 and $10,441/pupil in 2008(nces.ed.gov). So how can the problem be there isn't enough money? Where is all the money going? One observation, Maybe we shouldn't be buying all the kids breakfast everyday. It's the parents' responsibility to feed their kids, not the schools'.
Holly is among the largest school districts in geographic area in the state. How much has the cost of fuel gone up in the past decade?
In Michigan, FY12, the foundation allowance from the State was ~$6800, a loss of $470 from FY11. However, there was no increase in FY11 and FY10, and after 2003, the rate of inflation outpaced increases to the foundation allowance, meaning schools have had to pay for more with less.
Also, given that the foundation allowance is based on a district's headcount, and Holly has lost a number of students to alternative educational options and departures due to economic conditions, they're losing even more money. Due to Proposal A, districts cannot assess additional millages to fund salaries or benefits for faculty and staff. The sinking fund likewise can only be used for specific projects--without it that money comes from academic-allocated dollars.
Retirement benefits have taken a toll on not only school districts but businesses and government as well.
Holly has more than 50% of its students qualifying for free or reduced lunch, which is paid for through federal funding, not property taxes or local dollars. To blame our financial difficulties on a stack of waffles is absurd.
I will concede that many problems can be fixed by just throwing money at them, but at some point there just isn’t any more money. The public sector needs to learn how to do more (or the same) with less just like everyone in the private sector has done.
As far as retirement commitments, you’re right, that is a huge financial burden. I fully believe that retirement benefits need to be shifted from defined benefit to defined contribution. Retirement benefits have bankrupted many municipalities and it isn’t fair to the tax payers who pay those salaries and benefits. It’s also not fair to the employees that were promised certain benefits that were never going to be sustainable over the long-run.
Apparently most of the readers here disagree but I do not believe shoveling more money into the system is the way to fix the real root-cause problems.
sherman middle school only to close shortly after, is proof Holly area schools have no clue what they are doing. Just more more more
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