Legislative Actions Are Big Piece of Funding Puzzle, Northville Public Schools Officials Say

Northville Public Schools officials say they are grappling with unprecedented cuts to the district budget. A big part of the problem, they said at , are the changes coming from Lansing.

Some of the legislative and gubernatorial actions the school district is monitoring are:

• Three proposed school aid budgets: The last time Northville Public Schools was at its current per pupil allowance, $8,019, was in 2005, said Mike Zopf, assistant superintendent of finance and operations. In total, with other credits applied, the district has gotten $8,246 per student in 2011-12. Under the governor's budget, the district could lose $10 per pupil more in 2012-13. Part of the uncertainty in the governor's budget is a $100 per-student performance incentive credit which has not been defined, said Zopf. The senate's proposal could translate to a loss of $111 less per pupil for Northville. The House budget appears to be the most beneficial to the district with a gain of $34 per student for Northville.
• Michigan Public School Employees Retirement System (MPSERS) credit: The district pays into MPSERS, the retirement plan of its emplyees. One of the credits offered in Gov. Rick Snyder's budget and the House budget offset the cost, per student, that the district pays. The Senate bill does not offer that per student credit.
• SB 1040: "SB1040 increases contributions from members in all phases of the system, raises the retirement age in increments and changes the retiree health-care premium benefit from 90 percent paid by the state to 80 percent," the Center for Michigan's Bridge Magazine reports. The Senate and other education reform advocates have maintained that such changes are needed to reform MPSERS.
• Proposed elimination of property tax: Senate Bill 1072 would repeal the personal property tax, which supplements school funding. Zopf said the district is concerned that such a repeal without replenishing the money from another funding source.
• Number of cyber schools expanded: The governor on Tuesday signed legislation, proposed by Sen. Patrick Colbeck (R-Canton), that will . He has maintained that the measure is intended to expand the number of educational options for parents in lieu of the traditional public school system. The district will lose per student dollars for students who opt out of the public school system in favor of attending a cyber school.