To understand how schools are funded in Michigan, please watch this 3-minute video.

Funding outside of facilities is set by the state of Michigan through the School Aid Fund and their School Foundation Allowance, which yields a “per-pupil” allowance. (This is not to be confused with the Forest Hills Public Schools Foundation, a nonprofit organization run by district supporters to fund educator grants.) 


The School Foundation Allowance is Forest Hills Public Schools’ largest source of revenue. In the video, you’ll see that the State of Michigan expects or assumes that every school district is levying 18 mills against non-principal residences, but Forest Hills Public Schools has only levied 17.5 mills. Increasing the mill by .5 will bring in an additional $395,000 in revenue.

Here’s how a school budget is expected to be allocated:

• 65-70% of a school district’s budget is spent in the classroom for teachers, paraprofessionals, textbooks and online materials to support textbooks, and classroom supplies.

• 30-35% is dedicated to supporting classrooms with services from speech therapists, social workers, guidance/school counselors, psychologists, occupational therapists, nurses and media specialists. This also covers administrators, including principals, assistant principals, athletic directors, school secretaries.

• The remainder goes to:
- The operating budget for maintaining school buildings
- Transportation services
- District administration services

• 85-90% of the budget is for personnel while only 10-15% is for non-personnel to cover utility costs for buildings, buses, fuel, and repair for buses, school and office supplies, textbooks, and business expenses like auditing and insurance.

Forest Hills Public Schools publishes its financial and budget transparency data on its website (visit here). Not only is Forest Hills Public Schools audited, but it must also adhere to state laws for transparency and reporting and has earned the highest ratings for its reporting accuracy.

In looking over its budget, it’s easy to see how much Forest Hills Public Schools allocates to non-personnel costs. For example, their 2023-2024 general fund budget adoption is posted here and shows:

• Operation & Maintenance: $11,648,715

• Transportation: $6,287,850

These line items address utility costs, buses, fuel, repair for buses and more. While it sounds like a lot, remember that we have 26 buildings across 68 square miles that vary in age. Consider this: in 2015, Forest Hills Public Schools assembled an expert Task Force to evaluate options for the administration building. Nearly 10 years ago, the estimate for renovations to that building alone were over $5.9 Million! Imagine that in today’s dollars.

Now you know why a district of our size needs all the support it can get to support over two dozen buildings.

Repairs would need to come out of the operating budget, because we cannot fund them with bonds. This is why we often find – as evidenced by the 2015 task force report, that renovations and repairs are a comparable cost. Through the 2015 analysis and other examples, the district has also learned that repairs do not solve all of the needs. The operating millage can help to fund repairs, but again, the numbers above show a very tight budget even with the millage.

Without bonds, more of these operational needs and repairs would need to take away from other line items in the general fund. Any reduction in revenue can immediately result in large gaps in the budget. State law mandates balanced budgets which means gaps must be closed with immediate actions, such as a reduction in staff, which can negatively affect student programs.

It's critical to understand that law prohibits Forest Hills Public Schools from moving funds between line items. This is why FHPS can’t just “move things around” to cover repairs and avoid renovations. That’s a fallacy. They also cannot use these funds to cover educator salaries or programs.

We need to protect the general fund to prioritize our students, classrooms and programs!

Each local district is responsible for generating funding for capital improvement through local school district millage proposals. There are two types:

• Bond Millage Proposals: A request to approve millage for a set number of years to allow the school district to sell bonds for a certain amount to provide immediate funding to construct or renovate school buildings and facilities. The bonds are paid like a mortgage, with the ongoing millage funding the payments. The district typically accesses the funds in phases.

• Sinking Fund Millage Proposals: A request to approve millage for a set number of years to allow the school district to fund repairs and other building improvements. The millage provides an annual, ongoing stream of revenue and the district does not take on the debt of selling bonds in the marketplace. Districts either save money from the ongoing millage for a future project or use the revenue stream to fund ongoing repairs to buildings.

Up until this latest education budget, the State of Michigan’s per-pupil School Foundation Allowance DID NOT include infrastructure. This year, our Governor and Legislature added money for the first time, but only $250 million to cover every single school in Michigan.

As explained, all facilities and infrastructure are expected to be funded at the local level. Obviously, this is highly inequitable. We are lucky to live in a district that can afford to issue bonds for our infrastructure. Without the bonds, that money must come from the district operating budget and directly reduces the amount of money a district can spend on the day-to-day educating of their students.

Yes! However, this is to be expected because of the way that school budgets are structured to rely on local districts to use bonds and millages to meet their building and facility needs. This article lists all of the districts around the state that requested bonds during the April 2023 election. This is a natural and routine process for school districts, libraries and other facilities and services.

This is also why it is unreasonable and unrealistic to expect that “schools learn to operate within the budget they have and not incur debt.” The State of Michigan expects them to do this and without it, we would have an unbalanced budget and need to consider unfortunate consequences for our staff, students and classrooms. Our students, property values and the strength of Forest Hills Public Schools depend on us!

Just like a mortgage, debts are paid and eventually retire, which is how and why Forest Hills Public Schools intentionally times its bond proposals to complement each other to maintain a consistent rate on your tax bills.

You can see FHPS’s debt repayment schedule here. Moody’s issues Forest Hills Public Schools an Aa2 rating. Aa2-rated bonds are considered safe investments and offer investors a reliable opportunity for stable income with a higher degree of safety compared to lower-rated bonds.

While FHPS is still paying off old debt, it has a lower interest rate. Some is set to retire. For example, a 2013 series will be retired in May 2024.

The tax rate isn't expected to increase even with adding in new debt from the 2023 bond because of a combination of old debt having lower interest rates, retiring some debt, and increased property values.

This was covered in the short videos on how school budgets are established. This millage is only on non-primary residences and businesses. You will see this listed on your tax bill as “FHPS Operating” as the mills levied, and then the amount you are charged. It will say $0 for your “homestead” property.

Second, the State of Michigan expects every district to levy 18 mills on non-homestead property. The State knows how much each district would collect if levying 18 mills and subtracts that amount from the “foundation funding” it sends to the district. This is true whether a district levies this millage or not. This is EXPECTED BASE FUNDING. This is not an “additional” tax to fund schools. (The bonds are additional.)

Each municipality structures their tax bills differently. For example, Cascade and Grand Rapids Township break their taxes into different line items while Ada groups theirs together. This also means the tax rate percentages appear differently across municipalities (e.g. 6% or 7%).

Each municipality or county tax is visible on your bill. Look up your property tax bill breakdown here.
• Ada Township
• Cascade Township
• Grand Rapids Township

On your property tax bill, you will likely see three lines that reference Forest Hills Public Schools:

• Forest Hills Debt = bond repayment
• Forest Hills Oper = operating (the non-homestead)
• Forest Hills Rec = recreation millage (used to support recreation programs-community enrichment, etc.)

You should also know these definitions:
• Bond Tax is the ballot proposal item, for which there is expected to be no tax rate increase
• Bond Debt is the amount Forest Hills Public Schools is working to retire through their outlined debt schedule

Because our schools rely on bonds, this is a steady line item on your property tax bill and the combination of lower interest, retiring debt and timing of the new bonds is intended to keep it that way.

The numbers will be different for every single taxpayer based on the value of your property and your municipality, which is why Forest Hills Public Schools cannot provide one specific number. Check your property tax bill to see what this looks like for your household.

For additional information and compare other districts, see the “Comparison of Local Government Tax Levy 2021,” published by Grand Rapids Township

Forest Hills Public Schools says there is expected to be NO tax rate increase from the current rate. Read about the bond proposal here.

Consider this: In 2018, Forest Hills Public Schools asked voters for a bond proposal with NO expected increase to taxpayers, providing $130 million to fund capital improvements phased in over eight years. The first phase was in April 2019 for $38 Million. We have not had any tax increases. In fact, the debt mil reduced slightly between 2018 and now. See “Historical Tax Rates for Grand Rapids Township Principal Residence Exemption Properties 2005-2021”

The new bond will span 21 years instead of 8 years like the last two bonds were. We will not issue all $340M bonds all at once.

Also remember that the millage is for non-homestead properties. Read about the millage proposal here.

We have also seen Forest Hills Public Schools keep honest to their estimates during past projects, adjusting for inflation. They also build their project estimates with the anticipation of rising material costs and inflation. This is not the case with other districts, which have had to come back to voters to ask for additional funding to cover inflation, like in Caledonia.

Forest Hills Public Schools is trying to plan ahead for the next generation and has transparently outlined the specific projects they’re anticipating. View them here!

Rather than come back to voters so often, they are proposing a longer timeframe. The 2018 bond was for $130 Million over 8 years and the 2023 bond is for $340 Million for 21 years with improvement projects through 2031.

The district has consistently studied the current and projected needs of school buildings and educational programs to determine a facility plan. They supplement this information with staff input, district leaders and the board of education.

The needs span 26 different buildings with varying needs. One of the elements to be covered through this bond is a new aquatic center. Here are just some of the things that parents across the community have shared about why they are voting YES:

• “Three high schools and three middle schools have to share one pool, along with the community services and we simply do not have the space we need.”

• “Swimming and water polo are the only sports that we know of that are not equipped to be able to host regional or state level meets because the current aquatic center is too small. For a program of our caliber, this is really frustrating because we are always the visiting team and far less funded districts are able to host these events.”

• “The current aquatic center is awful and many of our swimmers have experienced illnesses because of poor ventilation.”

• “Our kids have to travel to Jenison to practice or go to the Y because we don’t have enough space for all of the teams, otherwise they are practicing at all hours of the night and very early in the morning and having to drive a ways to get there.”

• “Forest Hills Eastern was added to our district after the current aquatic center was built.”

• “The facility is over 30 years old and beyond repair. The locker rooms are poorly designed.”

• “Our swim and dive programs are suffering due to the poor facilities.”

• “By designing a proper facility, we can generate revenue by hosting USA Swimming events, YMCA team swim meets, and larger high school competitions. The district can also save on travel expenses to other meets and practice pools and use the budget for other operational needs.”

More detailed Q&A about the bond is located here.

More detailed Q&A about the millage is located here.

It’s imperative you vote with the facts!

We need every eligible, registered voter to turn out and VOTE YES for Forest Hills Public Schools by November 7, 2023. You can always email us your questions at info@supportfhps.org and we’ll give it to you straight or point you to our sources.

Please also contact Julie Davis, Assistant Superintendent for Finance and Operations, who is overseeing this bond and millage request.

jdavis@fhps.net
616.493.8804