Arvon Township School collects only 13 mills of non-homestead tax. Many
schools in Michigan collect 18 mills plus additional debt retirement.
The collection of 13 mills saves the taxpayers of Arvon Township
approximately $ 105,628 this year.
Homestead property owners pay NO taxes which directly operate Arvon
Township School. All taxpayers pay 6 mills for the State Education Tax, a
tax which goes directly to the State of Michigan and funds most schools.
Arvon receives none of this money as our local non-homestead tax of 13 mills
is sufficient to operate the school.
If our school closed and annexed to another school district, our
non-homestead taxpayers would pay 18 mills of taxes, an increase of five
mills.
Other local schools have additional debt retirement which ALL taxpayers
must pay (homestead and non-homestead). L’Anse School District has voted in
7 extra mills and Baraga School District 7.95 mills. L’Anse currently
collects 4.5 mills out of the 7 voted extra mills for debt retirement. If
Arvon Township School annexed to one of these districts, our taxes could
increase significantly.
Arvon Township School receives no state aid for operational purposes.
Our primary operating millage comes from non-homestead local taxes. Extra
federal grant funds supply additional revenue. We have no building projects
(new buildings, football fields, etc.) which require a debt retirement
millage.
In summary: If our school closed and we annexed to another local
district our non-homestead taxpayers could pay an additional 9.5-12.95 mills
and our homestead taxpayers an additional 4.5-7.95 mills of debt retirement.
If Arvon Township School had only one student, it would still benefit
the taxpayers to stay open.
Arvon Township School District 2009-2010
Handbook (PDF Format)