Millage Information
Jackson County Intermediate School District Special Education Millage Renewal - May 2, 2023
Fast Facts
- NO NEW TAXES: This is a renewal of the 1.5408-mill property tax millage that voters last approved in May 2017. This is a request of whether to renew this millage for another five years.
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100% of FUNDS DISTRIBUTED: 100% of the revenue generated by this millage will be distributed to all of the local school districts. Jackson County ISD receives no funding from this millage.
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ALL KIDS BENEFIT: Without this millage in place, local school districts would lose millions in funding for mandated special education costs, resulting in fewer dollars to support programs for all students.
Brief Explainer
Michigan law requires school districts to provide special education services to individuals with disabilities from birth through age 26 or upon graduation from high school. Students are eligible for services under one of 13 disability areas, including:
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Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD)
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Physical Impairment
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Cognitive Impairment
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Severe Multiple Impairment
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Deaf-Blindness
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Specific Learning Disability
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Deaf or Hard of Hearing
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Speech and Language Impairment
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Early Childhood Developmental Delay
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Traumatic Brain Injury
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Emotional Impairment
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Visual Impairment
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Other Health Impairment
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Jackson County Intermediate School District and its partner districts have, in part, been able to meet the needs of special education students because of a voter-supported enhancement millage that began in 1997. Currently, more than 4,000 students ages birth to 26 years old receive some form of special education services.
Local districts rely on the reimbursement funds this millage provides. Without this millage, mandated special education costs will still exist and the funding to pay for these costs will have to come from other programs funded by districts’ general funds. Voters must determine whether to continue this funding through May 2028.
What kind of special education services does the Jackson County ISD provide?
By concentrating the wide range of special education services under the umbrella of the Jackson County ISD, county taxpayers have saved millions of dollars in providing state-and-federally mandated services to students. These services include:
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Autism Support
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Social Work Services
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Early Childhood Intervention
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Specialized Classrooms & Programming
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Physical & Occupational Therapy
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Speech Pathology & Audiology Services
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Psychology Services
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Teacher & Classroom Aides
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Qualified Learning Disabilities
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Teacher Consultant Services
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Regulatory Oversight & Records Management
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Transportation |
What does this proposal mean for my local school district?
The millage renewal enables the Jackson County ISD to continue reimbursing local districts for a portion of their mandated special education expenses. In 2022-23, these reimbursements to local districts totaled:
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School / District
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Total 2022-23 Special Ed Reimbursement Received from JCISD
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Hypothetical Special Ed Reimbursement without millage
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|---|---|---|
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Columbia
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$628,027
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$171,273
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Concord
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$333,519
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$90,956
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East Jackson
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$682,866
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$186,229
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Grass Lake
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$428,480
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$116,854
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Hanover-Horton
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$420,872
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$114,779
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Jackson Public
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$2,924,989
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$797,692
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Michigan Center
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$902,721
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$246,187
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Napoleon
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$567,371
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$154,731
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Northwest
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$1,511,467
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$412,202
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Springport
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$478,053
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$130,373
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Vandercook Lake
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$517,276
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$141,069
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Western
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$1,596,675
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$435,439
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da Vinci
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$132,747
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$36,202
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Paragon
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$135,746
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$37,020
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JPEC
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$32,660
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$8,907
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TOTAL
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$11,293,468
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$3,079,913 |
For more information, check out the Millage Q&A.