Dearest reader, 🪶
Lady B has a confession.
She is NOT against school bonds. 😱
In fact, she considers them something of a necessary evil.
Michigan has relied on school bonds to finance major infrastructure projects for generations. The state's school bond financing system dates back to the 1963 Constitution.
And there's a reason for that.
Schools need roofs. Boilers fail. Plumbing deteriorates. Buildings age. Sometimes new facilities are necessary.
And unless someone has discovered a magical money tree growing behind the superintendent's office, those projects must be paid for somehow. 🌳💰
Yes, districts have sinking funds. But those funds generate limited annual revenue and cannot always cover multimillion-dollar construction projects.
That's where bonds come in.
A bond allows a district to borrow money for major capital improvements and repay that debt over time, generally through property taxes.
But here's where Lady B starts sharpening her quill. 🪶
Borrowing $30 million doesn't necessarily mean taxpayers will repay only $30 million.
There's interest. There are financing costs. And depending on the repayment structure, taxpayers could be paying for decades.
Lady B believes taxpayers deserve to know:
📜 What exactly are we building or repairing?
📜 What is the total cost, INCLUDING interest?
📜 How long will taxpayers be paying?
📜 What happens to existing debt?
📜 Why were these projects selected over other priorities?
And perhaps most importantly, why shouldn't the public be able to examine the repayment schedule BEFORE voting?
Schools need infrastructure. Children deserve safe, functional buildings. And taxpayers deserve transparency.
Those things are not mutually exclusive.
Perhaps the problem isn't always the bond itself.
Perhaps it's asking taxpayers to sign a decades-long financial commitment without showing them the entire ledger.
Lady B isn't asking districts to stop building.
She's asking them to start explaining.
With receipts and respect,
Lady Budgetdown 🪶
#LadyBudgetdown #MichiganSchools #SchoolBonds #TaxpayerTransparency #FiscalResponsibility #SchoolFunding #PublicEducation #AccountabilityMatters #FollowTheMoney #WithReceiptsAndRespect