Why was Wayland Schools millage vote tally so close?

I submit there are several reasons why the non-Homestead millage for Wayland Union Schools only squeaked out a 10-vote victory in the Aug. 4 primary election.

At first glance backward, it should’ve been a cakewalk. The proposal was for a millage that doesn’t have to be paid by most homeowners. The 18-plus mills is applied only to businesses, industries and second homes.

The only reason why such a millage election is necessary is that it was one of the provisions of Proposal A of 1994, which eliminated all but six mills of residential property taxes for most homeowners in paying for public education. Proposal A called for an increase in the state sales tax, from four to six cents on the dollar, so in actuality it was a tax shift.

Businesses, industries and those wealthy enough to have second or third homes received a modest tax reduction because many school tax levies in 1994 were between 24 and 32 mills. The only people who didn’t get a tax cut were those who couldn’t afford to own a home. Instead, many of them renters, they only got a 50 percent sales tax increase.

So somehow, many voters on Aug. 4 seemed to misunderstand the proposal, not being aware they were exempt from the increase. That leads one to believe there wasn’t enough publicity about the non-Homestead millage, a development I lay at the feet of outgoing Supt. Norm Taylor, who was just phoning it in during his last six months on the job.

No blame can rightly be assigned to new Supt. Dr. Christina Hinds, who started on the job July 1, only a month before the election, and she immediately had her hands full with the “back to school” decisions that had to be made.

The only places local citizens could get information about the millage proposal was on the Wayland Union Schools web site, where Laurie Zywiczynski did a heroic job, and on this on-line news service. Townbroadcast published a couple of stories and mentioned it in an opinion piece.

Apparently, it was barely enough.

But once again, the pain in the behind Headlee Amendment played a negative role.

The Headlee Amendment was approved by voters statewide in 1978 in a fit of anti-tax fervor. Its complicated provisions now have plagued local governments for 42 years.

Essentially it prescribes rolling back the property tax rate whenever property values increase more than the rate of inflation. It allows local municipalities to capture only the rate of inflation in tax increases even when the millage rate remains the same.

This is why you’ll so often see proposals for renewals of 0.86542 on so many ballots. It fosters confusion and it fosters more use of calculators. Worst of all, it makes tax collecting even more complicated. And an old axiom says that whenever you make things confusing and complicated, voters vote “no.”

Some observers, such as the astute local businessman Bob Genther, rightfully accused Wayland Union Schools of not being straight with voters by seeking about 18.3 mills rather than the 18-mill renewal. And that’s an attempt to circumvent Headlee.

But Wayland Schools do not stand alone here.

I can remember that even before Proposal A, the Caledonia and Gull Lake Public Schools proudly told their constituents they would put a renewal of the current millage levy on the ballot every year so voters could be the deciders.

Actually, Caledonia every year sought 21.9 mills and thereby avoided the Headlee rollbacks when the renewals were approved.

Mr. Genther also expressed his displeasure over the fact homeowners and renters were given the opportunity to vote on tax levies they didn’t have to pay.

Let the historical record show that when the Founding Fathers adopted the U.S. Constitution and Bill of Rights, the only Americans eligible to vote were free, white males ages 21 and older and property owners. All the others earned the same rights many years later because of pressure groups, protests and taking to the streets.

For now, it appears the Wayland Union Schools will be able to continue levying what is referred to as the non-Homestead millage, but the proposal should never be taken for granted in the future.