School millage is not over
By Charles Sercombe
Hamtramck school officials aren’t taking “no” for an answer.
At last week’s Public School Board meeting, boardmembers vowed to ask voters a second time to renew a 10-year millage that brings in close to $2 million a year.
The plan is to put the millage proposal on the August Primary Election ballot.
Voters recently rejected the renewal following a last-minute distribution of an anonymous campaign flier that urged a no vote and saying that by doing so voters would save $500.
The flier upset school officials who said not only was the $500 claim false, it also violated state election law by not identifying who was behind it. Election law requires campaign literature to identify who produced it, which is usually a registered committee.
The state’s Attorney General’s Office has been asked to look into the matter.
Superintendent Tom Niczay said the millage has been in place for 20 years and is crucial to the district’s budget.
“If you want to have a viable school district, you have to fund it,” he said.
Each of the six board members said they supported the millage and will continue to campaign for it.
“It’s not the end of the world,” said Boardmember Mohammad Huda. “We can work together.”
Board President Maggie Srodek said that with the district about to emerge from a budget deficit, the defeat of the millage would set the district back.
“We worked hard on eliminating it,” she said in reference to the deficit. “It was done with tears and sweat. We can’t let that go to waste.”
Srodek also said that if there are any boardmembers who are secretly against the millage – which former Board President Titus Walters claims there is — they should resign from office.
Srodek said that the next time around, the district and its supporters will be more vocal about the millage.
“We will hit as strong as we can,” she said.
8 Responses to School millage is not over
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onu singh
March 23, 2015 at 12:19 am
Do not mislead the voters by saying a Yes vote would not raise your taxes. Tell them the truth that with a Yes vote you will be paying some extra money to the school District that the district needs For it to function better. If it appeals to them they will vote. By the way do not play any race game. It’s not a good idea. Do not treat Hamtramck like Ferguson.
Neighbor
March 23, 2015 at 2:08 pm
The tax increase argument is pretty silly. I paid ‘x’ amount before this millage. After this millage was approved, my taxes increased by ‘y’ amount. How in the world is this not a tax increase . Even if it is only a renewal, it is a renewal of a tax increase. This tactic does not reflect good on HPS.
Resident
March 24, 2015 at 1:17 pm
When this millage proposal came for vote 10 years ago. I voted NO. But, it passed. I didn’t pay a penny extra. I had and I still have 100% principal residence exemption. I voted YES this time and will vote YES in August again. It’ll not cost me a penny extra if it passes again. It will not give me any credit or discount or $500 if it fails.
Neighbor
March 24, 2015 at 3:48 pm
Actually you will save money if you are a landlord or a rent paying tenant. The issue here is the shady tactic being used by the advocates of this millage.
Resident
March 25, 2015 at 10:58 am
Neighbor – Pay the tax and collect it from the tenant in the form of higher rent. It is your business expense (assuming you pay income tax on your rental income) anyway. Your tenant benefits for having quality schools. I bet you don’t want your tenants run toward 8-mile and for Fitzgerald School District. Having quality schools require money. Vote YES.
Neighbor
March 25, 2015 at 4:36 pm
No body disputes the importance of this millage for a quality education in HPS and I intend to vote in favor of this millage. What is in dispute is the false tactic used by HPS, namely ‘not a tax increase’ argument to advocate for it. We expect honesty from an entity that is expected to teach it to our kids.
Resident
March 26, 2015 at 8:35 am
It is not a false tactic. It is NOT a tax increase. It is maintaining “Status Quo”. It is a continuation. It is a RENEWAL of a tax increase which occurred 10 years ago. It was an increase for COMMERCIAL properties back then or the first time it was enacted. Now it is simply keeping “AS IS”.
The City and/or the school board should work on persuading state legislators to change state law and allow them to tax religious institutions. With so many Mosques and Churches in Hamtramck, imagine how much revenue that would bring in!!!!
Neighbor
March 28, 2015 at 7:34 pm
It’s not a money issue, HPS spends more money per student than Dearborn’s and other higher acheiving schools. It is an issue of students’ families economic levels, parental involvement and students’ desire to learn.