Tax increases are on the horizon again in Kalamazoo County. This time, the subject is the KRESA enhancement millage. This is not to be confused with the KRESA Croyden School tax increase, which passed on the second try last November.
The enhancement millage was originally passed in 2005, after 52% of voters were convinced that schools were in dire need of a one-time tax increase. This was despite the fact that even several local school districts opposed the tax increase.
Of course, the folks who swore that this would be a one-time fix now swear that it really, really needs to be renewed. They have commissioned a survey claiming that voters would support this. If this is true, the only explanation that I have is that the taxpayers have moved out of the county.
Make no mistake. This is a tax increase. If the millage was supposed to expire, and the rate is increased from where it would have been, this is a tax increase, not a renewal. If your car payments are supposed to end when your car is paid off, but the dealer demands that they continue, what would you call this?
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On a related note, check out the exchange between Ray Wilson of the Kalamazoo County Taxpayers Association and a semi-literate government school employee on the KCTA blog.
1 comment:
What do you propose we tell the teachers who will have to be let go if the millage does not pass? What will you tell their students? We are talking about $75 on $100,000 home. To vote no on this millage is pure selfishness.
On the other hand, if you can find the money elsewhere...
The reason this money was needed in 2005 is the same reason it still needed in 2008 - the state is not allocating enough funds to education.
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