State Legislators Reach Budget Deal

On Thursday, members of Michigan's House and Senate came to agreement with Gov. Rick Snyder on the state's proposed budget.

Under the tentative deal, an extra $30 million will go to local governments, including cities, villages and county revenue sharing.

Concessions for state employees could be reduced by $35 million and this would mean schools would not loose $300 per-pupil as originally proposed. The deal would give school districts back $100 per student, plus another $100 if a district adopts what officials call “best financial practices," such as outsourcing non-instructional resources and finding ways to reduce costs associated with employee benefits.

"It's a new day in Michigan," Snyder said in a press release. "We're leaving gridlock and negativity in the past. Michigan has not been well served by the annual budget dramas that have taken government to the brink of shutdown. We will have a timely, balanced budget in place so that our municipal and school partners can accurately plan for the coming year, avoiding the chaos that too often has been foisted upon them due to Lansing's inaction."

State Rep. Mark Ouimet (R-Scio Township) said he was pleased with the compromise.

"This is a structurally sound budget agreement based on genuine financial principles, not gimmicks or phantom funding.  It's a real budget plan that strengthens the hand of our schools by encouraging long-term cost-saving practices," Ouimet said. "We listened to the people of Michigan who believed the initially proposed school funding cuts were too steep, and fought hard to get the new revenue placed into the K-12 budget."

Ouimet said local school districts can now only expect a state funding reduction of less than $100 per pupil, which amounts to a 1.9 percent decrease. 

"This is truly a landmark budget agreement when you consider the state was dealing with a $1.5 billion deficit situation," Ouimet said. "It's also positive that we're moving closer to our goal of balancing the budget before May 31.  This will provide much more certainty for schools, local governments and universities that rely on our state dollar projections to formulate their own budgets."

Dexter Community Schools officials could not be reached for comment at the time of this posting.