Dearest reader,
"Tax neutral" sounds simple.
The receipts, however, are a little more interesting. 👀
Four Saginaw County school districts have bond proposals on the November 3 ballot, and while several are structured around maintaining current tax rates, they are not all doing the same thing financially.
A few things caught Lady B's eye:
📜 **Freeland Community School District**
Freeland currently has a 1.984-mill sinking fund — essentially pay-as-you-go funding for eligible capital projects.
The district is proposing to discontinue that sinking fund and replace it with a **1.984-mill bond levy**.
Same mills.
But instead of collecting sinking-fund dollars as they go, Freeland would borrow **$21.2 million and finance that debt over 20 years, with interest.**
So while the millage rate may be tax neutral:
**Same mills ≠ same financing.**
📜 **Hemlock Public School District**
This one deserves another distinction:
**Tax neutral ≠ debt neutral.**
Hemlock borrowed **$17.2 million in 2022** at a **4.14% true interest cost**, with final maturity in **2052**.
Now voters are being asked to authorize **another $17.75 million in borrowing**, with an estimated 1.10-mill levy in 2027. Hemlock says that represents a **0.00-mill net increase** over the current levy.
In other words, the tax rate may remain level, but additional debt would be layered onto debt that is already outstanding.
There is also a **separate 18-mill non-homestead operating renewal** on Hemlock's November ballot. That renewal generally applies to commercial, industrial, rental and other non-homestead property — not qualifying owner-occupied principal residences.
And one receipt worth remembering:
After the 2022 bond, Hemlock told its community that, aside from the recurring 18-mill non-homestead vote and the opportunity to renew its one-mill sinking fund in 2030, there was **"nothing else in the current forecast."**
Hemlock now says circumstances changed, including enrollment, programming and facility demands, which accelerated its timeline.
📜 **St. Charles Community Schools**
Lady B is still waiting on requested financing records. I have not located a Treasury 3881 filing for this proposal, so I am not going to fill in missing financing details with guesses.
**FOIA pending.**
That is why you will see some information deliberately left unverified on the graphic.
Sometimes the most important part of a "tax-neutral" proposal isn't whether the millage number changes.
It is **what taxpayers are financing, how it is being financed, how long the obligation lasts, and what debt is already sitting on the ledger.**
With receipts and respect. 👑
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