KALAMAZOO, MI (WKZO AM/FM) — Kalamazoo’s five-year-old Foundation For Excellence is about to enter a new phase, and despite all the talk about it at City Hall, it’s little understood in the community.
The Kalamazoo Promise did it first, tapping the resources of local billionaires. Since then, the Foundation has accumulated a half-billion dollar endowment fund, mostly from that same source.
The Annual interest earned by that fund can be used to enhance city programs and lower property taxes. F.F.E. Director Steve Brown says the city will receive that first interest payment this coming year.
Brown says the City is the first to try this form of funding, but he says only about 60% of the city’s residents say they have even heard of it.
Several Commissioners urged Brown to do more to improve the Foundation’s community profile. Critics say it gives the city’s richest residents undo influence on city affairs, but Brown says it’s structured to prevent that from happening. Commissioner Chris Preadel defended the F.F.E.
The first-of-it’s-kind funding mechanism was invented, because State Lawmakers have sharply limited how municipal governments can raise money beyond property taxes. It was either this or an Income Tax. Some say it could become a model for other cities to follow. Commissioners appointed new members to The Foundation’s Board this week. The Board makes recommendations to City Commissioners, who have the final say on how the money is spent as part of the city’s annual budget.
REPORTING BY: John McNeill
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