New Michigan business tax cut takes big bite of K-12 revenues (with poll)
New Michigan business tax cut takes big bite of K-12 revenues (with poll)
Published: Sunday, January 08, 2012, 11:00 AM Updated: Sunday, January 08, 2012, 11:32 AM
By Julie Mack | Kalamazoo Gazette
LANSING — Republican leaders in Lansing say they do not plan to cut K-12 funding for the upcoming school year as the state’s economy begins to rebound and state officials contemplate an unexpected surplus from fiscal 2011.
But there’s still a chance schools could end up with less money for 2012-13.
It appears now there won’t be enough money in the state’s School Aid Fund to cover $200 per student in one-time funding allocated to districts this school year as part of a last-minute budget deal. And Republicans are making no promises about whether that funding would be continued or replaced in another form.
“It is not the speaker’s plan, hope or desire to make more school cuts,” Ari Adler, spokesman for House Speaker Jase Bolger, R-Marshall, said late last week.
However, Adler also said, “That $200 was one-time money. We may end up providing funding for schools in ways that are similar to what we did this year, but schools were told the $200 was one-time money. It’s too early to say what exact form school funding will take in the next budget, so schools shouldn’t assume anything.”
If schools don’t get the money, a big reason will be a $1.6 billion business tax cut that took effect Jan. 1.
more...
http://www.mlive.com/news/kalamazoo/index.ssf/2012/01/new_michigan_usiness_tax_cut_t.html
= new reply since forum marked as read
