Community Corner

Letter to the Editor: Supporting School Millage is the Right Thing to Do

A Northville Township resident discusses why she plans to support the sinking fund millage in the May 3 election.

It’s complicated – this business of funding public schools – especially when the State of Michigan is in the state that it’s in and politics is involved. That’s why, when Northville residents can control even a small aspect of the funding for Northville public schools, we should take the opportunity and vote YES on May 3rd to approve the millage proposal for capital improvement (sinking fund) for Northville Public
Schools.

Since Proposal A was passed as an amendment to Michigan’s constitution in 1994, the local property taxes we pay for public schools bypass our Northville public schools and are sent to Lansing for redistribution to all public school districts in the State. Done on a per pupil basis, this essentially becomes a school district’s operating budget. As we all know, despite recent encouraging glimmers of improvement, the Michigan economy, and therefore, school operating budgets, have been declining. Accordingly, serious reductions in per pupil funding from the State face our district, which could materially alter the way our kids are educated.

While there may have been enough operating budget funding to handle capital improvements when the economy was better, this has not been the case for some time. In addition, while it might seem like it was only yesterday that the new High School and Ridgewood were built, in fact, all the district’s buildings are aging and need to be maintained. So, because capital improvements can be handled
separately and kept on the local level, for the first time Northville residents are being asked to approve the proposed millage for capital improvement (sinking fund), so the money can be used within our district for specific facility repairs, normal replacement and improvements, and some updates. Please see the district website, www.northville.k12.mi.us, for the details of how the sinking fund can be used for the needed repairs and improvements

Not only are our property values linked to the quality of our schools, but our kids’ futures depend on an excellent educational system. This is a key factor for people wanting to live in Northville. Ask a realtor about this, and also ask if they would like to see more homes listed for sale in Northville because they have serious buyers. Their answers would be YES and YES, respectively. I urge Northville residents
to vote YES on May 3rd to approve the millage proposal for capital improvement (sinking fund) for Northville Public Schools.

Kathy Morris, Northville Township


Get more local news delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for free Patch newsletters and alerts.

We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here

More from Northville