On Monday the Grand Rapids Board of Education voted to place a bond question on the ballot on June 14th. They split things up into two questions, one for $150 million for buildings and one for $15 million for computers.
The combined millage rates of the two issues will be 2.3 mills, according to the information we could find on the GRPS web site (for some reason none of media outlets with web sites published the actual millage rates, even the print edition of the Grand Rapids Press).
The tax-raising politicians always like to point to the cost per month or per day to the average taxpayer to make it sound like a small increase. However, in the interest of full disclosure, we would like to point out the total cost to the average taxpayer. Assuming a 25 year payoff schedule (again, the media didn't report what the rate is), the owner of a $100,000 home would pay about $115 per year in additional taxes. Assuming a modest taxable value increase of 2% per year over 25 years, the total tax per $100k home would be approximately $3,795.
Those of us who are city residents need to pay a little closer attention to our tax-raising politicians. It seems as though we've got tax increases coming at us from every direction. The economy isn't so hot and layoffs continue. Why can't government trim costs like the rest of us? If you're a bureaucrat, when the going gets tough, demand more money!
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