KALAMAZOO, MI (WKZO AM/FM) — Kalamazoo School Trustees say the impact of the coronavirus pandemic will be felt long after it ends, hitting them right in the pocketbook.
Sales taxes and other state revenue is way down because the economy has shut down. It will impact every institution and agency that depends on tax revenue, including schools.
Trustee Ken Greschak says as difficult as the suspension of classes has been, the real work for the Board of Trustees will come when they see next year’s proposed budget.
“We could be looking at 5% to 10% or more of a reduction. We are going to have to make some really profoundly difficult decisions moving forward,” Greschak said.
Interim Superintendent Gary Start says it is another reason they really need voter support on Tuesday’s ballot for the renewal of the enhancement millage for the Kalamazoo Regional Educational Service Agency.
“It’s going to be bad enough, I can’t imagine a budget with another 4.6 million gone,” Start said.
Trustees approved a resolution during their first virtual meeting on Thursday encouraging support for the countywide millage, which provides operational funds for every district in the county. They also decided that they will ask voters again to approve the millage renewal during the August election if it fails on May 5th.
Registered voters in each of the nine school districts in the Kalamazoo RESA service area will decide whether or not to renew a 1.5-mill property tax millage for another three years. It was first approved in May 2005 and then most recently renewed in 2017. According to KRESA’s website, if approved, taxpayers would continue paying the same millage rate they have been paying since 2005.
Voter turnout is a huge concern amid the coronavirus pandemic. Under Governor Gretchen Whitmer’s executive order, Michiganders are highly encouraged to vote absentee in an effort to limit in-person contact. Each jurisdiction will have at least one polling location open on Election Day where any voter can appear in-person to receive and submit a ballot.
The ballot language can be found here.
(John McNeill contributed to this report.)
