#FactsMatter, the Citizens Research Council of Michigan podcast

There are many tough decisions on the horizon for Michigan school districts.

Schools are facing massive sums of federal pandemic relief funds ending at the same time that many they are facing declining enrollment, partially also due to the pandemic.

Approximately 50% of K-12 budgets are allocated on staff salaries, with another 20% to 30% allocated for benefits. Added together, salaries and benefits – people -- account for about $4 out of every $5 dollars in school budgets, spread across a variety of programs.

Not surprisingly, many, many districts used the additional resources to grow their staffing, leading to what will now be exceedingly tough decisions on staffing levels.

Bridge Michigan education speaks with Council Research Director Craig Thiel about his recent papers on this imminent, critical issue and what we can expect from school district budgets for the coming year. They discuss how districts programmed federal (and state) pandemic resources over the last three years as they crafted their budgets. They speculate about the number of districts who accounted for the limitations of the one-time federal funding and that the federal deadline for allocating it all is this September.

They also discuss how parents and members of school communities can get involved and get engaged in the process. This includes everything from reviewing and looking for spending red flags in public documents online, such as schools’ budgets past and present, as well as financial statements, to attending their local school board meetings where budgets get adopted. Even better: attending their local school or district finance committee or budget committee meeting, where budget proposals are crafted.

Other “red flag” warnings in budgets include a reliance on Rainy Day funds to support operations. While this is justifiable when needed – to transition to a new budget norm – Rainy Day funds are not designed to support ongoing programming in a district because those one-time resources will run out too.

Districts with stronger Rainy Day fund balances will not have as many, if any, painful cuts. Those that don’t have a robust Rainy Day fund and used federal pandemic resources for ongoing costs are going to be challenged.

For example: districts that allocated pandemic funds to one-time programming or services – facility upgrades, equipment and curricula purchases – will not face as many, if any, painful cuts.

Bridge Michigan data reporter Mike Wilkinson talks with Research Council infrastructure analyst Eric Paul Dennis, who recently published a report showing that Michigan's road pavement quality ranks 40th nationally and 10th out of 11 among peer states.

While Michigan's roads still lag those of other states, they are improving, thanks to more funding in the system. However, challenges remain, as future funding to maintain the new construction, critical to upkeep, will also be needed to make payments on current road bonding.

Annalise Frank of Axios Detroit chats with Citizens Research Council President Eric Lupher about the recent announcement by District Detroit developers that construction on their 17-story office building would be delayed. The codevelopers, New York-based The Related Cos. and the Ilitch organization's Olympia Development of Michigan, are instead changing the order of their 10 proposed District Detroit projects, moving up one of the planned new hotels as well as one of the residential buildings. Lupher has noted that, given the Ilitches' reputation for overpromising and underdelivering, some public skepticism is expected, but that the “resequencing” of the order makes sense, given the very difficult environment for financing office space. As Frank has reported: the city is banking on the $1.5 billion megadevelopment from the Ilitches' Olympia Development and billionaire Stephen Ross' Related Cos. to help downtown grow and attract new businesses, which includes three new office building projects.

Under the new timeline, one of the first District Detroit projects will now be a new 18-story, 261-unit residential building with ground-floor retail at 2205 Cass, near the forthcoming University of Michigan Center for Innovation (UMCI). The apartments, expected to open in 2027, would provide housing for some students attending the UMCI, and 20% of the units would be offered as "affordable" at below-market rents.

Frank and Lupher discussed the many potential opportunities that the residential building project could have on Detroit, providing much-needed affordable housing to Detroiters and facilitating housing for an additional student population that would likely seek out local shops, restaurants, bars, walking/running paths and all the benefits of living in an urban community.

Gongwer News Service reporter Lily Guiney sat down with Research Council health analyst Karley Abramson to discuss Michigan’s shortage of primary care providers (PCP) and how expanding the scope of practice for nurse practitioners would help address the shortage, which is projected to get worse in the coming years.

On March 20, medical professionals from around the state gathered in a Senate committee room to testify on both sides of legislation that would expand the scope of Nurse Practitioner services, allowing greater independence for NPs to treat patients and address healthcare needs. Michigan has among the most restrictive scope of services for nurse practitioners.

Michigan can and should encourage healthier, more livable communities, sustainable development, desirable affordable housing, and public transit by getting rid of parking mandates.

Governor Whitmer’s Growing Michigan Together Council established a need to 'create thriving, resilient communities' as part of a strategy to grow Michigan’s population and improve our economic prospects.

Municipal parking mandates stand directly in the way of this goal. 👎

Detroit Free Press reporter Arpan Lobo guest hosts the Facts Matter podcast, produced by the Citizens Research Council. Arpan, who recently wrote about Consumers Energy getting the OK to bury power lines in 6 Michigan counties, interviews Citizens Research Council analyst Eric Dennis, who issued a report this time last year about the benefits of undergrounding electrical lines but, that without a coherent state policy to enable it, it will not happen. It’s rarely considered due to cost considerations that assume the utility will bear the full cost. However, as Dennis argues, the cost can be mitigated if undergrounding is done in collaboration with others.

Listen to Lobo and Dennis discuss this and how Michigan should pursue policies that facilitate and compel multi-agency ‘dig-once’ project coordination to underground distribution lines.

Over the 2020 to 2050 period, Michigan’s school-age population is expected to fall from 1.58 million to 1.48 million children. This will fuel a continuation of a two-decades-long decline in the number of students enrolled in public schools.

As individual schools confront further enrollment declines and the exhaustion of one-time federal COVID relief aid at the end of 2024, many will face the prospect of whether to close buildings with lower enrollments to ensure their long-term fiscal stability.

Michigan lawmakers recently approved $114 million from the state School Aid Fund to pay off the legacy debts of several local school systems that previously faced serious financial distress. Some districts received the relief, others did not. This represents a moral hazard, signaling to some districts that they will not be held responsible for solving any future financial problems.

Taxpayers should demand a cohesive, transparent strategy for determining who receives debt relief. Because the current situation is unfair to both students and taxpayers in districts that receive no relief.

Michigan is likely to continue to be rated as one of the worst states for government ethics, transparency, and accountability. Proposal 1, a constitutional amendment approved by voters in 2022, required the ethics reform (financial disclosure) legislation to be enacted by December 31.

While the new law meets the bare minimum standards set by Proposal 1, Michigan is likely to continue to be rated as one of the worst states for government ethics, transparency, and accountability.

Because of several major loopholes in reporting for elected officials and candidates for office were left unaddressed in the legislation, “sunlight” on elected officials financial conflicts will be intentionally dimmed important information will continue to be shielded from public view.

The lack of substantive financial disclosure requirements for top state officeholders is part of the reason Michigan receives an “F” and ranks at the bottom of states in terms of government ethics, transparency, and accountability by the Center for Public Integrity.

Maureen McNulty-Saxton talks to Citizens Research Council Research Associate for Local Affairs Chelsea Dowler

https://crcmich.org/four-elements-of-better-housing-policy

In a Nutshell

- Many housing affordability and equity issues are rooted in car reliance, disinvestment in the urban core, and reliance on underfunded and inefficient federal housing programs.

- A housing production program must tackle root causes to adequately address housing affordability and equity over the long term.

- The state government should provide rent assistance to low-income households and prioritize repairing vacant/blighted homes, housing that facilitates placemaking, and housing in areas where residents won’t be overburdened by transportation costs.