The Sun and News

Your Hometown Newspaper Serving Middleville and Caledonia Areas

No. 24/June 19, 2021 Published by J-Ad Graphics, Inc. • 1351 N. M-43 Highway, Hastings, MI 49058 143rd year

TK board approves 2021-22 budget

Greg Chandler
Staff Writer
Thornapple Kellogg
Schools is expected to end its
current fiscal year with a
healthy surplus.
The district plans to use a

portion of that surplus in the

2021-22 fiscal year.

The TK Board of

Education Monday approved

a budget for the fiscal year

that begins July 1. The

general fund portion of the

budget calls for expenditures

of about $36.9 million and

revenues of about $36.

million, with the district

using $265,548 of its reserves

to make up the difference,

Assistant Superintendent

Craig McCarthy said.

The district is expected to

end the current fiscal year

June 30 with a surplus of

more than $1.18 million,

based on revenues of $37.

million, spending of $36.

million and setting aside

$535,000 in a district capital

outlay fund. That surplus

would boost the district’s

savings to more than $5.

million, representing about

14.8 percent of the district’s

annual expenditures,

McCarthy said.

Salaries and benefits

account for more than 85

percent of the district’s

expected spending in the

new fiscal year – salaries at

49.1 percent and benefits at

36.7 percent, McCarthy said

in his presentation to the

school board.

“We are a service

industry. We need personnel

to be able to provide that

service,” he said.

Breaking down the

budget by function, about

half of the district’s spending

• $18.4 million – will be
  used for classroom
  instruction. An additional
  $6.86 million, representing
  18.6 percent of the district
  budget, is planned for
  support services. Another
  $4.75 million is planned for
  added pupil needs, $3.
  million for operations and
  maintenance, and $2.
  million is budgeted for
  transporting students,
  McCarthy said.
  The budget is based on
  the district maintaining a flat
  enrollment for 2021-22 of
  3,199 students. It also

projects a $200 increase in

the district’s per-pupil

funding from the state, to

$8,311. The final per-pupil

funding allocation isn’t

expected to be settled until

the fall when the state

Legislature adopts its budget,

with its fiscal year starting

Oct. 1.

“We know it’s increasing.

The state Senate, the

governor and the House all

have their ideas on what

should be our per-pupil

foundation for next year, but

they haven’t come to an

agreement yet,” McCarthy

said. “So that’s also a

challenge for us.”

A budget amendment,

based on the final state

funding numbers, is expected

to be presented to the school

board in February 2022,

McCarthy said.

Property values in the

district are up 4.59 percent

from the year before, but

McCarthy said that doesn’t

mean the district should

increase its budget by that

much.

“There are tax tribunal

rollbacks on taxable values,

and there’s some tax

abatements that are often

given out,” he said.

State funds, including the

per-pupil foundation grant,

account for 79 percent of the

district’s projected revenues

for 2021-22, adding up to

$28.9 million. Additional

funding will come from

local, intermediate school

and federal sources,

McCarthy said.

In other business

Monday, the board approved:

• A 1.25 percent salary
  increases for administrative
  and non-represented
  employees for the 2021-
  school year. The raises mirror
  similar increases that
  teachers and support staff
  will receive under contracts
  that were settled last year.


• The hiring of 10
  teachers, including three
  who had taught the past year
  as virtual instructors. The
  new teachers include
  See BUDGET, page 9

IN THIS ISSUE...

• Middleville DDA forms committee
  to pursue downtown art


• Thornapple works to protect rare
  ‘oak opening’ in cemetery


• Board salary increases in Yankee
  Springs pass in 3-2 vote


• Caledonia planners approve
  Farmers Elevator at village hall

TK parents, students demand

end to COVID mandates

Greg Chandler

Staff Writer

Chloe Lomakoski took to

the microphone just in front

of the stage at Thornapple

Kellogg High School’s per-

forming arts center Monday

night and shared her story

about the challenges she

encountered attending school

in the midst of a pandemic.

Chloe, who just completed

the sixth grade at Thornapple

Kellogg Middle School,

already knew she had asth-

ma. But when the COVID-

pandemic hit last year, she

found she had another condi-

tion that made it hard for her

to breathe while wearing a

mask.

Chloe was diagnosed as

having vocal cord dysfunc-

tion, where her vocal cords

close instead of open while

inhaling. Because of the

VCD diagnosis, Chloe was

exempted from the require-

ment nearly all her class-

mates had to follow to wear a

mask.

“When I walked into the

middle school to start sixth

grade, I was the only person

in the entire school without a

mask,” Chloe told the

Thornapple Kellogg school

board Monday night. “It was

already hard enough going

into sixth grade and to deal

Keara Hilton, one of the organizers of Stand Up TK,

addresses the board Monday night on quarantine mea-

sures that were enacted after students and teachers

tested positive for COVID-19. Hilton said information

she was provided by the district as a result of a Freedom

of Information Act request showed less than 1 percent of

students who were quarantined as a result of close con-

tact contracted the virus.

Gaines Township eyes special levy for police and fire

James Gemmell
Contributing Writer
Gaines Charter Township
has a “very healthy” general
fund balance, according to
an auditor. But township
trustees say maintaining
positive budget numbers
long term may require voter
approval of a special-
assessment levy for public
safety in the near term.
They discussed at the
June 14 township board
meeting a proposed 1.5-mill
levy for police and fire
services that will be the
subject of a public hearing
July 12. It was part of a
broader discussion about the
township’s financial health.
The township board heard a
presentation from auditor
Dan Veldhuizen, with the
Siegfried Crandall P.C.
certified public accounting
firm. That agency has served
as township auditor since
2010.
Veldhuizen said Gaines

Township had $4.8 million in

revenue for fiscal year 2020,

and a little more than $

million in expenses. That

worked out to an increase in

working capital of about

$760,000.

However, Veldhuizen did

recommend the township

update its investment policy

and procedures manual.

“You’re getting to the

point where you have $

million in the bank at any

given time. You’re going to

be getting [$2.7 million] in

ARPA [American Rescue

Plan Act] funds. So, it might

be time to reconsider that

investment policy, and talk

about controls and types of

investments you want to get

into.”

He noted the township’s

sewer and water fund, “with

$20 million of working

capital, looks like an awful

lot of money. But the average

person doesn’t realize how

much a significant repair

would cost to your water and

sewer infrastructure ... that

[money] could go away in a

heartbeat.”

The township board

approved a motion to have

the township’s investment

policy reviewed at an

upcoming board meeting.

That could include potential

changes to the policy or

possibly setting up an

investment committee.

Township Treasurer Laurie

Lemke said the township’s

policy has not been updated

since 2010.

But Veldhuizen said that

is actually good compared to

most municipalities, which

are still working with a

standard investment policy

crafted by the Michigan

Townships Association in

1998.

He pointed out the audit

showed the township had 27

certificates of deposit at the

end of last year. “That’s a

lot,” Veldhuizen said. “I

know that Laurie as a

treasurer wants to have as

much FDIC [Federal Deposit

Insurance Corp.] coverage as

she possibly can. But you

don’t have much of a return

on CDs.”

In an interview after the

meeting Lemke said, “I’ve

been working with [township

manager] Jonathan

[Seyferth] and interviewing

banks, just to make sure that

we’re doing the best job for

the township. I play it very

safe with our township

dollars. And I diversify quite

a bit.”

Township Supervisor

Rob DeWard said nearly half

of the township’s annual

budget goes to public safety

($2.4 million). The proposed

special assessment would

generate an estimated $1.

million, and mean the

township would not need to

apply as much of its general-

fund budget to police and

fire services. The owner of a

$182,000 house would pay

an extra $136.50 per year, if

the assessment levy is

approved.

Lemke said, “It’s getting

harder and harder for us to

maintain our level of public

safety with our tax revenue.

At some point, we have to

ask ourselves – if public

safety is important enough to

us and our community –

should we have dedicated

funds for our public safety?”.

Seyferth told the board

the benefit of a special

assessment versus a millage

increase is that the special

assessment would be

dedicated specifically to

public safety, and there

would be no need to seek

millage renewals repeatedly.

The public hearing on

July 12 will be the first of

two required hearings for the

proposed special-assessment

levy. If approved, it would

first appear on the December

2021 winter tax bill. The date

for the second public hearing

has not been set yet.

Summing things up,

Veldhuizen noted that the

township transferred

$567,500 this past year to a

new Capital Projects Fund.

“I think that’s a great idea, to

set aside money for specific

purposes. Even after you did

that, the working capital and

fund balance went up

$193,000.”

“You’re getting to the

point where you have

$20 million in the bank

at any given time. You’re

going to be getting

($2.7 million) in ARPA

(American Rescue Plan

Act) funds. So, it might

be time to reconsider

that investment policy,

and talk about controls

and types of investments

you want to get into.”

Dan Veldhuizen,

auditor

See DEMAND, page 8