School districts across Michigan will vote Aug. 4 on tax hikes that promise to help "the kids." A taxpayer-funded mailer in Oakland County, for instance, says the money comes out to an extra "$781 per student annually." But don't just believe what school districts are telling you. There's good reason to question whether these tax hikes are really necessary or helpful.
In addition to being a mother and a taxpayer, I am also a trustee of the Rochester Community School Board, where I represent students and taxpayers in our district. I've seen how school boards try to trick families into supporting higher taxes. Before you vote, here are four reasons to ask whether these millages are necessary, how the money will actually be spent and whether anyone is measuring the success or failure of current and prospective spending.
First: schools are already getting more money. Michigan's newly enacted state budget increases funding for every district. The Senate Fiscal Agency's analysis spells it out: a $250 per-pupil increase to the foundation allowance; a three-year rolling average for student membership to provide a cushion for districts like mine with declining enrollment and growing expenses; and additional funds for educator compensation, literacy, transportation and other programs.
Second: this vote is happening in August, and I doubt that's by accident. Turnout for August elections in Michigan has topped 30% just once since 1978, according to an analysis of state and federal data. The average turnout over that same span is under 19%. That means fewer than one in five voters could end up imposing an increase on every property taxpayer in the county.
School districts seem to like it that way. In 2025, our board quietly discussed its ambition to place the $750 million millage on the ballot, even as other districts discussed it in public. I wrote about the tax proposal in a Detroit News op-ed. The board's response was to censure me and attempt to negate my role in board business. Ask yourself why. Does the district hope to sneak this millage through with a tightly managed messaging campaign, in an election when most voters aren't paying attention?
Third: student performance has been plummeting while spending soars. Total per-pupil funding in Michigan hit about $24,000 last year (across all federal, state and local sources), but student performance went down again. In 2016, 47% of students in third through seventh grades scored proficient or higher in English on the state M-STEP results. By 2025, that figure had dropped to 41%. Math proficiency fell from 38% to 36% over the same period. More money has not bought better results, as Michigan remains in the bottom quartile of the nation, ranked 44th in student achievement.
Meanwhile, a Bridge Michigan analysis of statewide data from 2014 to 2023 found staffing rose in 75% of Michigan school districts even as student enrollment fell in 73% of them ― including in Troy, located in Oakland County, where scores and enrollment both went down while staff went up. I have been asking for answers about similar trends in Rochester. At some point, districts should answer for that gap before asking for more to paper over it.
If we're concerned that teacher compensation in Oakland County is falling behind neighboring counties like Macomb and Wayne, it's fair to ask why. Oakland County school districts already collect more local education funding than any other county in the state. Many also have strong bonds and sinking funds, which cover capital expenses and free up general fund dollars for operating costs. Oakland also has high property values — roughly twice those in neighboring counties like Macomb and Wayne, which already have enhancement millages. They are trying to keep up with our funding capacity, not the other way around.
Before asking Oakland County taxpayers for another tax increase, we should be asking how existing resources are being prioritized.
Fourth: the way these millages are sold doesn't pass the sniff test. We all know it's illegal for school districts to spend public money on electioneering. So districts send mailers like the one mentioned above and call them "informational" ― because they stop just short of the words "vote yes." That's the whole trick.
A public institution has a printing budget, a mailing list and official letterhead that no opposing view gets to match. When those resources are used to present only one side of a tax proposal, "information" starts to look a lot like a machine advocating for itself.
So to illustrate this point, I, too, will stop short of telling you to vote no. Instead, I'll ask you to do what the local mailers assume you won't do: read past the number they printed in bold, ask where the plan is for the spending and wonder whether higher taxes should ride on a low-turnout August ballot most of your neighbors will skip.
Carol Beth Litkouhi is a Rochester School Board trustee.
This article originally appeared on The Detroit News: Think twice before voting on August Oakland County millages | Litkouhi