Officials: Schools millage renewal would not tax homeowners

MADISON HEIGHTS — A millage renewal proposal for the Madison District Public Schools will be on the ballot Aug. 6, but officials say it will not affect the taxes paid by residents.

They said the proposal is a routine adjustment that the school district makes to offset automatic millage rollbacks caused by the Headlee Amendment. Per recommendations by the state, the measure will allow the district to levy the statutory rate of up to 18 mills on all property, except principal residences.

For the Madison schools, this would mean levying an additional 2 mills to reach the full statutory amount of 18 mills on nonhomestead properties. The school district collects $1 for every $1,000 of a property’s taxable value, multiplied by the millage rate.

“This is just a normal, annual renewal that does not affect homeowners and their properties,” said Mark Kimble, a trustee of the Madison District Public Schools Board of Education. “This is no higher than the millage rate that has been paid in the past. It’s just a renewal.”

Kimble added that the measure serves as an override on the Headlee Amendment that will bring an additional $200,000 to $300,000 per year from nonhomestead properties.

“Although that is not a lot of money for a school district, every dollar counts when you’re tight on money,” Kimble said.

District Superintendent Patricia Perry said in an email that while the millage renewal will not have any effect on the taxes paid by homeowners, it could make a difference in the services that the district is able to provide.

“Madison District Public Schools needs this Headlee override ballot proposal to fulfill our mission of preparing all students for the next phase of their lives,” Perry said.

Kimble said the school district is still recovering from a costly public corruption case where a previous board president, Albert Morrison, accepted more than $560,000 in bribe money from his friend John David, and in turn awarded $3.1 million in maintenance and construction work on school properties to David’s company, Emergency Restoration, without the board’s knowledge or approval.

Morrison, who was board president from 2012 through 2018, pled guilty in federal court and was sentenced on Nov. 9, 2023, to 45 months in prison, followed by two years of supervised release.

He also did not file a federal income tax in any year during his time as board president except for 2014. In this way, he avoided paying the government roughly $118,200 in taxes. Because of this, he was also ordered by the court to pay $118,200 in restitution to the Internal Revenue Service.

As for David, he also pled guilty in federal court for his part in the scheme. He was sentenced on Aug. 14, 2023, to two years in prison.

In each case, the school district did not receive any compensation for the loss suffered.

“Despite having millions of dollars stolen from us, the district did not receive any restitution from the court,” Kimble said. “We suffered greatly from the actions of previous leaders, and we’re still in the process of recovering. But under new management now, I’m very confident that we’re moving in the right direction.”