Archive: News

Lansing taxpayers said no with 53.45% of those who voted weighing in against the proposed $21,553,679 2006-2007 budget.  The vote was 310 for and 356 against.  Of the three propositions only one passed 387 to 272, authorizing the Board of Education (BOE) to borrow up to $245,000 to purchase three (2) 66-passenger school buses, one (1) 22-passenger bus and two (2) 6-passenger vans, at  a cost not to exceed $245,000. A third resolution authorizing the Board to purchase fitness equipment for school purposes at a cost not to exceed $130,000 was defeated 398 to 248.


Two BOE members ran uncontested for reelection.  Sandi Dhimitri received 489 votes and Anne Drake 488 votes.  There was one write-in vote for Chris Barrett.

The budget was the latest of about a half dozen drafts.  The BOE charged administrators with creating a budget that was no more than 6% above this year's.  After each draft they put items back in, then asked administrators to draft another budget with other cuts.  Despite a 5% across-the-board cut for each of the three schools, the final draft came in at 7.73% above the 2005-2006 number.  If passed it would have meant a 5.09% increase in the school tax rate, bringing it from the current $18.379 up to $19.314 per $1000 of assessed real value.

The budget defeat is a blow for the BOE, which recently withdrew a $32 million capital project proposal due to a perceived lack of taxpayer support. It will make their job harder in December when they plan to ask taxpayers to approve a new capital project proposal, developed from the ground up by a committee of district residents.  School officials hope that a project that comes from a committee made up of community members will have the support of Lansing voters.

Before that happens they will have to come up with a budget residents will approve.

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