School district seeks operating millage renewals

Officials: Proposal will not increase tax rates beyond what’s currently authorized

Voters in the Royal Oak Schools district will be asked Nov. 3 to renew two millages that cover operational costs.

The largest is the 18-mill non-homestead millage, which affects only businesses and second home properties.

The other is the hold harmless millage on primary home properties, which is a subset of the non-homestead millage, and raises $851 annually for each of the roughly 5,200 pupils in the school district.

School officials said the proposal will not increase the district’s tax rates beyond what is authorized currently.

The non-homestead and hold harmless millages are an important aspect of the funding for school operations.

“Without them we would lose 46 percent, or $23 million, of our funding,” said Kathy Abela, the district’s executive director for finance and operations.

Both of the millages are included in a single operating millage proposal on the ballot and have been endorsed by the Greater Royal Oak Oak Democratic Club.

Superintendent Mary Beth Fitzpatrick said the district has an annual budget of roughly $63million.

Money from the district’s general operating millage proposal represents a significant portion of Royal Oak Schools funding, including paying teachers and staff, she said.

“It covers the day-to- day funding to pay salaries, and for services and support for students,”

Fitzpatrick said.

Those costs in the district represent everything from its international baccalaureate program and career focused education classes to academic, social and emotional support services for students, she added.

The ballot proposal includes a cushion of up to 1.25 mills on the non-homestead millage to guard against any future Headlee rollbacks. Part of the state’s Headlee amendment rolls back millage tax rates when property values increase bymore than the rate of inflation or 5 percent, whichever is less.

The 1.25-mill increase on the ballot proposalwould allow the district to keep the non-homestead millage at a steady 18 mills, school officials said.

Further, the proposal would also restore the hold

harmless millage to its 1994 level of no more than 3.4 mills in the event that the millage is affected by a Headlee rollback, so that the millage will continue to generate $851 per student.

That amount is necessary for the school district to qualify for its full foundation allowance of $9,118 per pupil, with $4,898 coming fromthe state under Proposal A.

Abela said the district levies only the amount of the hold harmless millage necessary to keep the per student funding at $851.

“We currently levy 2.29 mills,” she said.

Defeat of the proposal would increase the risk of the district having tomake cuts. Without the millages the district would lose a substantial portion of its $9,118 per student foundation allowance, school officials said.

“The district would have to make difficult choices,” Abela said, “that could lead to increased class sizes, staff layoffs, and cuts in programs and services.”