LIVINGSTON COUNTY - Voters in Hartland Consolidated Schools, Pinckney Community Schools and Chippewa Valley Schools approved bond issues of $28 million, $59 million and $89 million, respectively, this week, but Berkley School District voters turned down a $168 million proposal, according to media reports.
The Hartland vote will continue an existing 7.6-mill levy for an additional five years, pushing the retirement date to approximately 2034, according to the Livingston County Daily Press & Argus. All of the district's schools will be upgraded, the report said.
Similarly, Pinckney taxpayers now will continue to pay a debt-retirement tax of 7.55 mills until 2037, rather than 2027, according to the Press & Argus. Chippewa Valley residents will pay 7.65 mills until 2031, rather than 2026, according to The Macomb Daily. Pinckney will spend the money on technology and facilities, while Chippewa Valley will buy technology, surveillance systems, energy efficient lighting, playground equipment and buses, the reports said.
In Berkley, voters told The Daily that they couldn't afford the 4.27- to 7.75-mill tax increase, and that the proposal to rebuild five elementary schools as well as a new middle school was too expansive.
SOURCES:
Livingston County Daily Press & Argus, "Voters
OK nearly $90M for schools – Pinckney, Hartland look to get rolling on bond
projects," Feb. 24, 2010
The Macomb Daily, "$89M school bond passes," Feb. 24, 2010
The Macomb Daily, "Berkley bond won't be back in 2010," Feb. 24, 2010
FURTHER READING:
Mackinac Center for Public Policy, "A
Michigan School Money Primer: Local Property Taxes by Type," May 30, 2007
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