9/22/14 - Officials from Whitmore Lake Public Schools will hold a special meeting early next month to introduce Northfield Township voters to the proposed merger between the school district and that in Ann Arbor. The informational meeting will be held on Wednesday, October 8th at the Northfield Township Hall beginning at 7pm. Voters in the two school districts will decide on November 4th whether to merge the two school systems. The details of the plan will be presented by members of the Whitmore Lake School Board with the goal of letting voters make an informed decision on election day. The public is welcome to attend. The annexation, which would occur at the end of the upcoming school year, would help Whitmore Lake avoid going into deficit and possible state takeover, while Ann Arbor would get a larger student body, new properties and access to the US-23 corridor. Officials say the tax rate for the combined district would be 8.3942 mills. That represents a .2 mill decrease for Whitmore Lake district taxpayers and a .5 mill increase for Ann Arbor. However, officials are hoping to obtain $4.3 million in consolidation grant funding from the state. (JK)
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