Northport Public School voters will be asked to decide whether to renew the district’s main source of funding, a non-homestead property tax, as part of the May 5 school election ballot.

At its meeting Monday, the Northport Board of Education unanimously approved a resolution prepared by attorneys from Thrun Law Firm, P.C., of Lansing that will seek renewal of the district’s non-homestead property tax. The district will seek 15.6583 mills for five years, and if approved, the tax would generate $2,954,841 this year.

Business manager Karen Hammersley said the district can assess 13.388 mills each year – the amount allowed by state law. When state voters approved Proposal A in 1994 each school district had the maximum number of mills it would be allowed to assess on non-homestead properties set by the state, and Northport’s is 13.388.

The 2008-09 budget estimates $3,563,646 in revenues, with 83 percent ($2,955,216) coming from the non-homestead property tax. Hammersley said the board is asking for 15.6583 mills for five years so that the district can levy the full 13.388 mills each year without being impacted by a Headlee rollback.

Voters amended the state’s Constitution in 1978, named after former state Rep. Richard Headlee, to limit how local and state governments may vote in new property taxes. The Headlee amendment states that if the assessed value of a local unit’s total taxable property – excluding new construction and improvements – increases by more than the inflation rate, the maximum authorized property tax rate must be reduced so that the total taxable property yields the same gross revenue, adjusted for inflation, as collected on its prior assessed value.

Since property values continue to rise in the Northport district each year, the school district has to adjust the rate of its non-homestead property tax.

Meanwhile, as of Monday only Beth Dickinson had submitted petitions to the county clerk’s office to run for the four-year seat on the Northport school board. She was appointed in August to serve the remainder of Alan Woods’ term on the board. Woods was recalled by voters in the August Primary Election.

In other business during the meeting, the board:
• Met in closed session with attorney Jeffrey Butler to discuss options on how the district should proceed concerning the ruling of a state administrative law judge on the Woods’ family appeal. On Feb. 2, Lauren J. Harkness ruled in favor of the family’s appeal of Northport’s individual education plan involving the couple’s special needs son during the 2006-07 and 2007-08 school years. The judgment requires that the school provide 768 hours of compensatory education for the boy.

No further action was taken by the board after it returned to open session. After the meeting, board President Denise Branch said the district has 90 days from the date the ruling was issued, Feb. 2, in which it may file an appeal.  

• Unanimously approved the graduation of Kayla Kilcherman, effective this month. Branch said Kilcherman was scheduled to graduate in June 2008, but encountered some difficulties. She returned to Northport last fall and completed her class work during the first semester. Branch said Kilcherman asked for her diploma early because she is ready to move on to the next phase of her life. Board policy requires that the school to give Kilcherman her diploma at a ceremony or event, so she will receive it at a school function later this month.

“Kayla deserves a lot of credit. It’s tough to come back and complete the course work. I think it’s fantastic she did and I wish her nothing but good luck in the future,” Branch said.