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Royal Oak board signs millage form as budget uncertainty grows over state proposals
Summary
The Royal Oak board approved the district’s millage certification for 2025–26 while staff warned the state budget process could shift funds away from public districts and increase the local structural deficit.
The Royal Oak Schools Board of Education approved the district’s 2025–26 millage certification and received an overview of draft budgets and state funding proposals amid continuing uncertainty in Lansing.
District finance staff presented an initial budget preview and the millage rate request form (L-4029) that the board approved for submission to the municipalities that levy taxes on behalf of the district. The presenter said the overall change in the tax levy was down 0.083 mills — roughly $8.30 for every $100,000 of taxable value — and that the district’s total debt millage remained at 2.2 mills. The board approved the millage form by motion (mover: Trustee Van Nuysma; second: Trustee Wiecky) and carried the vote by voice.
The finance presentation described preliminary fund balances and projected structural deficits: the presenter said the district began the current cycle with an estimated structural deficit of about $2.9 million, and under one scenario tied to the governor’s proposal the structural deficit would rise to roughly $3.5 million. The presenter cautioned the numbers would change as negotiations, student counts and other costs were finalized.
Superintendent Mary Beth Fitzpatrick told the board that a Michigan House budget proposal passed narrowly and, in her words, “provides for $40,800,000 in per‑pupil payments that will go to private K‑12 schools” and an additional $170,600,000 for scholarships to private universities; she said the proposal would be a precedent if enacted and was “very concerning” for public districts operating on thin margins. Fitzpatrick urged continued local advocacy and noted the timing compressed the district’s ability to finalize its budget.
Board members asked questions about funds that must be adopted by state law, the community‑service and food‑service funds, and timing for final budget adoption at the board’s June 26 meeting. The board voted to sign the millage form and to continue budget work between meetings.
