Letter to the Editor: Vote ‘No’ on Upcoming School Millage Proposal

(Editor’s note: The opinions stated in the letter below are those of the author and are not necessarily those of the editors of Patch.com.)

The upcoming Aug. 5 primary election includes a proposal to raise property taxes called: “Wayne County Regional Education Service Agency (RESA) Regional Enhancement Millage Proposal.”

This millage will raise property taxes in the Plymouth-Canton Community School (PCCS) District by $10.4 million per year for 6 years. RESA currently adds a millage of 3.5 to your property taxes.They want to raise taxes and collect 157% of that in the future.

In return PCCS will receive $6.76 million per year. That’s a return of 65 cents on the dollar. And that’s for 6 years, making a total loss to the PCCS community of almost $ 22 million over the course of the millage.

RESA does not distribute the money equally among school districts. Northville and Livonia stand to lose a combined $27 million over the course of the millage.

Tell us:

• Do you support or oppose the Wayne County RESA regional enhancement millage proposal? Tell us why in the comments.

If some school districts are losing, then which ones win?

There are multiple winners; Dearborn comes out $4.8 million ahead, in total, with the millage. By far, the biggest winner is the Detroit City School District, to the tune of $23 million.

You may think that Detroit could use the help. So how much does Detroit spend per student?  Detroit schools received $13,825 per student in their general fund, their expenditure was $14,163 per student.

In contrast, Plymouth-Canton schools received a little less than $8,460 per student and spent about $8,476 per student. Northville and Livonia have similar expenditures. That’s right, Plymouth-Canton schools receive and spend much less than Detroit per student.

It makes no sense that a district that spends over $5,600 more per student (that’s 167% of what PCCS spends) needs to short taxpayers in districts that spend significantly less per student and have better results.

The current PCCS school board voted “no” on the RESA resolution. The treasurer of the Northville Public Schools Board Of Education personally recommends voting “no.”

Vote “no” on the RESA millage on August 5.

– Mike Oliansky, Plymouth