County voters in August face school tax hike

The Oakland Schools Board of Education voted 3-1 on Tuesday, March 24, to approve a resolution to place a regional enhancement millage on the August 4 primary ballot which, if passed, would mean a special 1.5 mills would be added to tax bills for six years.

Under Michigan statute, an intermediate school district may levy a regional enhancement property tax at a rate of up to three mills. This millage allows public school districts within a county to generate additional funding beyond what is provided by the state of Michigan under Proposal A (1994). The intermediate school district (ISD) distributes the revenue to its local school districts and eligible public school academies.

Local school boards that represent a majority of the total student population in the county passed resolutions requesting the board to vote to place the millage on the ballot.

The Birmingham Schools Board of Education, in a split vote, approved the resolution on March 3. Board members Luke Joseph and Colleen Zammit voted against the resolution and Amy Hochkammer was absent from the meeting.

In the Bloomfield Hills school district, the resolution asking the intermediate district to put the tax on the ballot was also passed by the board of education on a split 4-2 vote. Paul Kolin and Lindsay Baker voted against the issue and Meagan Hill was absent from the meeting on February 23 when the board voted.

If passed by county voters, the regional enhancement millage would be collected county-wide, distributed equally to all public school districts and eligible public school academies. The proposal language states this is a regional enhancement millage proposal for 1.50 mills, covering six years from 2026 to 2031.

“Oakland Schools does not receive additional funding should voters decide in favor of the millage,” explained ISD Superintendent Kenneth Gutman. “The funds are not kept by the ISD. Revenue is distributed to local school districts and eligible public school academies based on a per-pupil formula. Each school district and eligible public school academy gets funding proportional to enrollment, not property wealth.”

If approved by voters, collection of the new millage is slated to begin in December 2026.

Information about the proposed enhancement millage and Oakland County’s 28 local school districts can be found online by visiting OaklandEnhancementMillage.com.