Illustration by Tabi Walters
On November 4, Ann Arbor voters approved the Washtenaw Intermediate School District’s (WISD) proposed millage, levying 1 mill annually for student career-technical education (CTE). The measure passed at just over 54 percent—about 36,000 ballots cast in favor.
While approved, the $25 million tax request generated heated debate. County clerk Larry Kestenbaum says he was surprised it passed. “I didn’t think the millage had a good chance because there was opposition. Ordinarily, millages with organized opposition fail,” he says. “The fact that it passed is significant.”
Leading the opposition was Citizens Against Regressive Taxes, spearheaded by former councilmember Kathy Griswold. The grassroots coalition cited concerns that the millage would be an undue tax burden, that CTE is already available, and that AAPS hasn’t proven to be fiscally responsible.
Kestenbaum also ascribes some of the opposition to ballot fatigue. “It’s not a good look to schedule a special election just for this, when [WISD] could have put it on a regular election ballot for free,” he says, adding that the special election cost them “something in the order of a million dollars.”
Reddit and Facebook threads garnered hundreds of comments referring to “yet another tax hike” in the district, relatively high property taxes, and the millage’s potential impact on the housing crisis.
Kestenbaum also notes that while the millage passed by a comfortable margin, several of Ann Arbor’s precincts resisted—an anomaly given the city’s
political homogeneity.
The election introduced the permanent absentee ballot list, which Kestenbaum says will have major consequences for the future of election turnouts.
“Tens of thousands of people received a ballot for this election who might not have known there was an election otherwise,” he says. “There’s still this lingering idea that the way to pass a millage is to have a little election where only our friends vote. That’s not going to be possible going forward.”
In a November 5 statement, WISD says that CTE-related opportunities will be available as early as next school year.