School Tax Vote May Bloom In Spring

Following the recept defeat of Proposal C by voters, the Ann Arbor Board of Education will probably come to voters this spring with a request for at least an 11.66-mill renewal - possibly more. Trustee Clarence Dukes, the only board member on the Central Finance Comraittee, and Trustee Cecil Warner, a member of the board's Ad Hoc Finance Committee, say the request for the 11.66-mill renewal is inevitable. Even if voters approve the 11.66 milis to maintain the present operating millage rate of 32.55, the school district will probably have to cut corners to make ends meet. The operating millage does not include an additional 4.678 milis being paid by property owners for bonded indebtedness for the schools. A number oí factors are" contributing to the financial puzzle facing administrators. According to Supt. R. Bruce McPherson, factors to be considered include: continuing decline in state aid to the district, salary settlements coming up this summer, projected increases in the cost of goods and services, the impact of the one-shot delinquent tax fund of $1,186,000 being used this year, and projected increases in the state equalized valuation (SEV). The SEV, the tax base figured on the value of property in the school district, currently is $673,440,632, according to the 1972-73 budget. One mili brings in $673,440 in revenues. Wayne Johnson, city assessor, estimates the SEV will increase between 6 and 7 per cent bv next spring_because_of increased market valué of property. LeRoy Cappaert, director of the school's Office of External Affairs, says the projected increase in the costs of goods and services range from three to five per cent. In addition, the board must consider salary settlements. Contracts with the teachers, cafeteria workers and bus drivers will expire in August of 1973. The contract with maintenance and custodians will expire N o v. 15, according to Terry Crane, negotiator for the schools. The district has not yet settled with the principáis' and secretaries' associations for this year. Crane says there is a possibility a two-year contract will be settled with the secretaries. In addition the district's share of state aid has been shrinking during the last three years. In the 1972-73 budget, state aid membership is listed as $2,297,205. In 1970-71 the district received $4,400,896 in state aid membership and in 1971-72 the district received $3,279,160. McPherson says he will probably recommend to the board that the millage renewal election be held in February or March and possibly include severál proposals. "It's a quieter time of year. It will give people more time to consider the proposals that might be made," the superintendent adds. Additional items he might recommend be put on the ballot include: - Questions of support for new instructional programs. - Bonds for costs related to renovating c e r t a i n buildings for organizational changes including changing junior high schools to senior high schools and conv e r t i n g some elementary to middle schools. McPherson says the ballot might be a way to find out if people want large or small high schools. - Bonds for facilities and grounds. "The building maintenance budget has been eroded in a quiet way," asserts the superintendent. As an example, a roof wasn't repaired last year ai Pioneer because of lack of funds. It's leaking this fall. "We could get into a program of prenventive maintenance and never catch up," McPherson says. Building maintenance has been a low priority for the district for about the last five years, he adds. Until that time, the district had a large fund to use for emergencies. During the peak of the 1960s, the district had a total budget of $12,077,843 in 1966-67 plus a surplus of $2,768,327. It had year-end balances of more than $2 million in 1965 and 1964 also. For the first time, the district had a deficit in 1970-71 of $64,369 with a $23 million budget. The deficit was eliminati ed by the end of 1971-72, when the balance was $78,935. McPherson says the results of the an ticipated spring millage renewal will in! dicate the confidence or lack of it voters have in the school system, including teachers, principáis, superintendent, and board. Warner does not see the acceptance or rejection of the renewal millage as a vote of confidence. "People in Ann Arbor have always been willing to pay the bilis for good schools. Just because they approve it, doesn't mean a vote of confidence," he adds. Warner says he will recommend voters (Over Please)