Comparing Intermediate School Districts
An article by Julie Mack in the April 27 Gazette discusses the important point that overall KRESA taxes are about average in Michigan, even though the enhancement millage is unique.
In the Southwest Michigan region, KRESA’s overall taxes, even with the enhancement millage, are significantly below those of Van Buren County. This makes a difference for local school districts because most taxes levied by intermediate school districts end up directly or indirectly supporting services provided by local school districts. The more the intermediate school district does, the more resources are available to local school districts for other educational services to students.
From the Gazette article: “Even with Kalamazoo County's regional education tax, Van Buren County school districts already have a revenue advantage.
That's because of the difference in the way the Kalamazoo and Van Buren intermediate school districts subsidize their member districts.
The Kalamazoo Regional Educational Service Agency is the only ISD in Michigan with an enhancement tax that provides member school districts with an unrestricted revenue source.
But KRESA does not levy a vocational-education tax, which is more common among districts.
Both the Van Buren ISD and KRESA levy about 1.4 mills for ISD operations. But Van Buren ISD also levies 3.4 mills for special education and 2.55 mills for vocational education for a total ISD tax of 6.1 mills. In contrast, KRESA levies 4.5 mills, including the 1.5-mill enhancement tax and 2.9 mills for special education.
The higher tax levy means Van Buren schools have their special-education and vocational-education costs covered by the Van Buren ISD. Kalamazoo County districts have a lower reimbursement rate for special education services from KRESA and the nine districts divide the costs for Education for Employment, the county's vocational-education program.
The Van Buren ISD provides services that average $1,170 per county student, compared to KRESA's average per-student contribution of $981. Those subsidies help free up dollars in school districts' operating budgets. If the 1.5-mill KRESA tax is not renewed May 6, the KRESA subsidy for students would drop to $650 per student.”
The full article is at http://www.mlive.com/news/kzgazette/index.ssf?/base/news-28/1209270011193700.xml&coll=7