The Saline Reporter
A Heritage Newspaper
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Sinking fund millage to be on May ballot
Voters to be asked to support 0.47 mills for 10 years
By Brian Cox, Staff Writer
PUBLISHED: March 1, 2007
In light of ongoing revenue drainage and budget shrinkage, the Saline school board gave the green light Monday to placing before voters in May a sinking fund millage that, if passed, would generate almost $750,000 annually for the district.
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After compiling a list of infrastructure needs from district staff to gauge the level of needed funds, administrators proposed presenting voters a sinking fund of 0.47 mills for 10 years that over the decade would bring in more than $8 million.
The millage would cost the owner of a $300,000 home with a taxable value of $150,000 about $70 a year, said Tom Wall, assistant superintendent for administrative services.
Administrators said they believed voters would support the proposal based on community feedback and a survey completed by the district's Long-Range Planning Committee more than 18 months ago. The survey showed strong support for a sinking fund of 0.25 mills, which was the third highest ranking revenue-generating idea, and middle-of-the-road support for 0.5 mills.
Other districts with sinking funds include Chelsea and Ann Arbor.
Sinking fund money can only be used for building and facility repairs and upgrades and cannot be used to pay salaries, benefits or teaching supplies, or other day-to-day costs.
"There are facility and infrastructure needs that have to be met," Superintendent Beverley Geltner said last month when first informing the board her staff was actively exploring the option.
She pointed to some parking lots and playgrounds, as well as outdated building equipment in need of maintenance and replacement.
"We don't want to take the money out of the operating budget –– more accurately we can't because the money isn't there," she said.
Deputy Superintendent Nancy Brenton will head up the sinking fund millage campaign. Brenton has experience with organizing community support behind millages. She was instrumental in passing the Community Project 2000 bond, which was a $124.5 million bond to among other things build the new high school and Harvest Elementary School. She also was the point person on the passage of the Culture, Arts, Recreation, Enrichment and Seniors, or CARES, millage, which is a 0.85 mills and expires in 2010.
In approving the resolution Monday night, the school board did not endorse the millage, but merely authorized the district to place it on the May 8 ballot.
"We have the responsibility to put (the millage) on the ballot and let the voters decide," said Board President Trudy Driscoll.
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