School Tax Issues . . . Howard saia the ...

School Tax Issues . . . Howard saia the administration's intention is to follow a planned program as closely as possible, with one fifth of the work being done each year. The administration plans to come to the board once a year to establish priorities for revenues from the building and site improvement fund. Howard said he anticipates disagreement on where money should be spent. Although the one mili is not for programs, Howard said it will have an effect on programs because if money has to come out of the operating budget for repair of buildings, it reduces what is available for programs. If voters do not approve the 6.67-mill renewal, the school district will lose approximately $5 million, according to Howard. The 1973-74 operating budget is about $26.2 million. Howard has said he is seeking an early renewal of the 6.67 milis, which expires in December, to give the board and administration time to plan next year's budget. Currently Ann Arbor school district taxpayers pay 32.55 milis for operations, 4.67 milis debt retirement and .74 of a mili for support of the library. Excluding authorization for a one mili levy for the library which was approved by voters in June, the school district has been operating without a millage increase since 1969. When explaining her position on the additional mili for buildings and sites, Mrs. Martin said school district taxpayers living in the City1 of Ann Arbor are, already paying more than 65 milis in city, school, county and community college taxes. Since 1967-68, Mrs. Martin said student population has increased 6.4 per cent, cost per pupil has increased 54.4 per cent, the tax base has increased 79.4 per cent and the school's operating budget has increased by 72.7 per cent. The rate of inflation since 1967 has been about 27 per cent, she added. Critical of what she called the school district's "inflated budget," Mrs. Martin said last year's $1,186,000 collected in delinquent taxes could have alleviated the current building and site crisis or the money previously budgeted for the library out of school operating expenses could have been used for buildings after the library obtained its own means of support.