Schools, Municipalities Face More Cuts Under Snyder Budget

Statewide funding for schools and municipalities face hits that run into the hundreds of millions of dollars under Gov. Rick Snyder's proposed budget, which was announced Thursday.

He proposed reducing statutory state shared revenue by $92.1 million and tying the remaining $200 million to an incentive plan in which municipalities would need to adopt "best practices" and "meet specific standards." Counties also face a $51.8 million reduction in revenue sharing. And K-12 schools face a $470 per pupil reduction that would save the state $452.5 million.

That will be no easy task for the Northville Board of Education.

"I would say I'm pretty disappointed," School board president Joan Wadsworth said of the budget.

The per pupil cut means at least a $2 million reduction in revenue for the district. The "double whammy" is that employee health care costs are expected to rise by 7 to 9 percent, she said.

"We'll need to be cutting positions," she said.

The district is largely dependent on the state for its funding. And its roughly 7,000-student population has remained fairly stagnant over the past few years. That means that no large influx of additional per pupil monies are expected. 

All of this change comes at a time when teacher contracts, which expire in August, are being renegotiated.

"It makes it challenging," she said. "School districts across the state are likely to have nothing to offer in terms of improvements to salaries and benefits."

In fact, this round of negotiations is likely to focus on employee concessions. Previously, the district had projected a $1.4 million deficit.

Snyder also spoke in broad terms emphasizing his priorities over specifics, calling the proposal an opportunity to reshape Michigan's future and set an example for the nation. He spoke for about 35 minutes before the joint session of the House and Senate Appropriations, finance and tax policy committees.

"We shouldn't waste an opportunity. Not doing this would be kicking the can down the road. That's not why I got elected and it's not why you got elected. A lot of us are going to have to make sacrifices," said Snyder during the address that was televised live on Michigan Government Television.

State Rep. Kurt Heise (R-Plymouth) said he and other members of the House will be "taking a very close look at the governor's proposals over the next few days and weeks."

He said that while the cuts would be hard to swallow, there are benefits at the state level.

"It's a difficult budget and painful for virtually everyone, but the focus has to be on job creation and being competitive in this economy. These reforms serve to reset the clock and push us as a state in a whole new direction," Heise said.

Heise also said he has work ahead of him in examining what exactly the cuts would mean for constituents in his district, which includes Northville, Plymouth, Wayne and part of Canton.

"We need to look at how every single element affects our local district, and I'll welcome input from residents," Heise said. "I'm hoping the house and senate can agree on a budget that serves Michigan in the best way possible."

After the governor and Lt. Gov. Brian Calley spoke, state Budget Director John Nixon spoke on many issues including education, saying a plan that focuses on early childhood through higher education needs to be adopted. Specifically focusing on K-12, he said districts could avoid instructional cuts if they adopt an 80-20 employer-employee split on their health care contributions. He said that would generate $300 million in savings. In addition, if districts cut 10 percent non-instructional costs by following "best practices," it would generate another $300 million in savings.

"We feel this a very defensive plan that doesn't have to impact the classroom," he told lawmakers. "We know that's the critical area that needs to be maintained in school funding."

On its surface, Snyder’s proposed cuts represents a potential loss of an estimated 10,000 jobs statewide said Don Noble, lobbyist for the Michigan Education Association, which advocates for 157,000 teachers, faculty and education support staff throughout the state. Noble said he’d be immersed in the 140-page bill over the next few days.

He said a $470 per-pupil reduction could destroy school districts struggling to survive, put marginal school districts “over the brink” and put otherwise stable school districts at risk.

“I would expect fairly significant layoffs as a result of this and that translates not only to increased class size but a total elimination of the kinds of things that would be extracurricular programs or elective classes like band and physical education or anything not mandated by the state.”

Noble, who has lobbied for the MEA for eight years and worked for the association for 31 years, said the state’s total school funding, including federal subsidies, is about $13.5 billion. About one-third of that is sent to Wayne, Oakland and Macomb counties’ schools, he said.

Communities would not be able to increase funding through a millage, he said, because state law limits mileages to capital projects. As for the lottery money payouts being changed to increase school funding, he said suggested the lottery commissioner would say reducing prize payouts to stabilize school funding would hurt lottery ticket sales.

Plymouth Patch editor Jessica Nunez and Canton Patch editor Peg McNichol contributed to this report.