Voters are being asked to approve a Headlee override for Lake Orion Schools on May 2, to allow the district to levy the 18 mills approved last year.
The school board has said the district stands to lose about $400,000, due to a Headlee rollback, if the override does not pass. The tax will be on non-homestead properties only, so there will be no change for homeowners.
The Headlee Amendment, ratified in 1978, is designed to limit the ability of local governments to levy new taxes and to limit the growth of property tax revenue, requiring voter approval prior to implementing new taxes.
Provisions of the amendment require that when growth on existing property is greater than inflation, the local government must ‘roll back? its maximum authorized millage rate, so the increase in property tax revenue caused by growth on existing property doesn’t exceed inflation.?
Also on the May 2 ballot are terms for two Lake Orion School Board trustees, incumbents Bill Walters and Janet Wolverton, both running unopposed.
Walters was appointed to the board in Aug. of 2004, and he ran for office the following May to complete the final year of the term expiring this year. He has been a Lake Orion resident since 1975.
Wolverton was elected to the board in 2002. She has lived in Lake Orion for eight years.
Voters are to report to their usual township voting precincts. The polls will be open from 7 a.m.-8 p.m.