Budget Blog » Scot Graden

Paying for Michigan Schools

Scot Graden — Fri, 06 Aug 2010 19:26:35 +0000

Click here to listen beginning August 9th.

Paying for Michigan Schools: A new “Michigan Watch” investigative series

Every year we hear about budget crises and teacher layoff notices that are affecting Michigan schools. Michigan Radio’s new investigative unit, Michigan Watch, has been reviewing the budgets, questioning lawmakers, pouring over reports and interviewing educators to find out what’s happening and whether anything can be done. This series of reports that will look at the problems and examine some of the solutions.

State and Schools Can’t Get Budgets Together
8/9/10

Michigan Schools start work in April or May to turn in a budget by June 30th. But the state often doesn’t decide how much money to send schools until months later. Legislators say school districts should have enough information to make an educated guess, but administrators say budgeting by guessing causes a lot of hardship.

Story coming soon.

Blame the Economy for School Cuts
8/10/10

The Michigan Economy is down. Despite a broad-base of taxes set aside for schools, revenues for schools are not keeping up with increased expenses. Legislators say schools are doing a lot better than other government-run agencies and services. Educators say school cuts hurt kids.

Story coming soon.

Masking Problems Because of School of Choice
8/11/10

School administrators might be facing some tougher economic realities in this down economy, but they don’t want to spend a lot of time talking about their troubles. They don’t want to hurt marketing campaigns to entice students from nearby districts to switch schools and bring state dollars with them under the School of Choice program.

Story coming soon.

More Cuts to School Costs
8/12/10

There is some consideration of increasing taxes to help schools and other government services. But everybody seems to have a different idea of who to tax. And politicians say, it’s an election year. No one is going to pass a tax this year.

Story coming soon.

More Money for Schools?
8/13/10

If there are no new revenues coming to schools, the only choice left is to cut costs. Proposals call for sharing services among several districts. But others say, given most of the cost of schools is personnel, school employees should be ready to take more cuts in pay and benefits.

Story coming soon.

Absentee Ballot Application

Scot Graden — Tue, 20 Jul 2010 11:07:48 +0000

Click here to download an Absentee Ballot Application.

The application can be taken to your township or city clerks office to receive an absentee ballot for the August 3rd election. Below are the phone numbers to confirm hours of operation.

City of Saline: 734-429-4907
Bridgewater Township: 734-428-0372
Freedom Township: 734-428-0822
Lodi Township: 734-665-7583
Pittsfield Township: 734-822-3120
Saline Township: 734-429-9968
York Township: 734-439-8842

Bond Proposal Ballot Language

Scot Graden — Wed, 30 Jun 2010 12:36:51 +0000

Bond Proposal FAQ #2

Scot Graden — Wed, 30 Jun 2010 12:15:04 +0000

How does the district plan to avoid $6,900,000 in interest costs?

Based on State and Federal programs to encourage investment and jump start the economy Saline Area Schools qualified for both Qualified School Construction Bonds (QSCBs) and Build America Bonds. Both bond products either have reduced interest or interest rebates. However, the opportunity to take advantage of the Qualified School Construction Bonds, which make up $5,6000,000 of the savings, currently expires September 30th. It is unclear if the Build America Bonds will be available in the future, there are discussions at the Federal level to extend the opportunity.

Bond Proposal FAQ #1

Scot Graden — Wed, 30 Jun 2010 11:57:01 +0000

What happens to my millage rate if the proposal doesn’t pass?

The millage rate remains 7 mills until 2025 regardless of the outcome of the August 3rd proposal. If it does not pass, after 2025 the rate begins to decline. If the proposal passes, it will remain at 7 mills until 2031 before beginning to decline.

August 3rd – Bond Proposal

Scot Graden — Fri, 18 Jun 2010 11:07:13 +0000

Click here to download an informational flyer about the bond proposal.

Important Dates & Election Information

Scot Graden — Tue, 01 Jun 2010 18:57:11 +0000

August 3, 2010 – Bond Issue

Important Dates

June 19, 2010 – Absentee Voter Ballots available

July 6, 2010 - Last date of registration for this election

August 3, 2010 - Election Day

For all school elections, residents now cast their ballot where they vote in State and Federal elections. Remember, polls are open from 7:00am to 8:00pm. Please call your local clerk’s office if you have questions about your specific voter location.

School Funding at a Crossroads

Scot Graden — Tue, 11 May 2010 14:40:20 +0000

[There is a video that cannot be displayed in this feed. Visit the blog entry to see the video.]

Historical Fund Balance Information

Scot Graden — Fri, 19 Feb 2010 00:46:00 +0000

Here is a historical breakdown of the Saline Area Schools Fund Balance from 1993/1994 through last year. We are projecting it to be in the 5% range at the end of the current (09/10) fiscal year.

Budget Update – January 22nd

Scot Graden — Fri, 22 Jan 2010 14:04:08 +0000

SAS Staff & Community,

We are continuing to work through a challenging budget reduction process. We are beginning to meet with three community committees – Building/Grade Reconfiguration, Pay to Participate and Activity Fee – to review opportunities and make recommendations related to both efficiency savings and revenue enhancement. In addition, we are continuing to review options for reducing our current year deficit of $1 million. Since November, we had been targeting the January 26th Board of Education meeting to make recommendations regarding the need for mid-year staff reductions. Based on several factors, we are delaying any recommendations regarding staffing until the February 9th Board of Education meeting. This will provide us necessary time to review additional options and still meet contractual obligations regarding notifications.

Based on information from the State of Michigan, the budgeting process for the 2010-2011 school year will also be challenging. Following the recommendations from the community committees in March,we will be conducting “community budget forums” to get feedback on possible budget reduction measures for 2010-2011. These forums will occur in April as we prepare to submit the budget to the Board of Education in June.

Please continue to check the Budget Blog for more updates.

Thank you,

Scot Graden