Two boards and two millages

continued

There's no organized opposition to the millage, and only one councilmember, Jane Lumm, doesn't support it. "I very much support finally offering voters a chance to weigh in on this controversial issue," she emails. "However, we have not worked the private side of the funding equation as hard as we could. This isn't a huge millage, [but] the tax burden for AA homeowners is already enormous. For many--including those on fixed incomes--every dollar of tax increase is a dollar taken away from something else, and for some folks, it is not a stretch to say they are on the way to getting taxed right out of their homes.

"For these reasons," Lumm concludes, "my position all along has been that Ann Arbor's public art should be privately funded and I will not be voting for the millage."

"It will pass," Hieftje predicts. And if it doesn't? "It's not a big deal," the mayor says. "I don't take it personally. Someone will probably try again in a couple of years."

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A School Board Challenge