Michigan Proposal B, Taxation and School Funding Amendment (1989)

Michigan Proposal B
Election date November 7, 1989
Topic Education and Taxes
Status Defeated
Type Legislatively referred constitutional amendment	Origin State legislature

Michigan Proposal B was on the ballot as a legislatively referred constitutional amendment in Michigan on November 7, 1989. It was defeated.

A “yes” vote supported increasing the sales and use tax, reducing school property taxes, and establishing school funding.

A “no” vote opposed increasing the sales and use tax, reducing school property taxes, and establishing school funding.

Election results

Michigan Proposal B
Result		Votes	Percentage
Yes		436,958	23.89%
No		1,392,053	76.11%

Results are officially certified.

Source

Text of measure

Ballot title

The ballot title for Proposal B was as follows:

“

PROPOSAL B A PROPOSAL TO INCREASE THE SALES/USE TAX FROM 4¢ to 6¢ PER DOLLAR, REDUCE SCHOOL PROPERTY TAXES, SET PERMANENT SCHOOL OPERATING MILLAGES NOT SUBJECT TO VOTER RENEWAL, AND CONSTITUTIONALLY DEDICATE FUNDS FOR LOCAL SCHOOLS The proposed constitutional amendment would: 1) Constitutionally dedicate to schools: a. 2¢ increase in sales/use tax; b. Current statutory revenue sources, including lottery profits and some cigarette/liquor taxes; c. Increased share of existing sales/use tax (51 % to 75%) to substantially replace annual school appropriation. 2) Reduce property taxes in most school districts. Replace school taxes with permanent statewide millage (9 -mills on residential/farm; 14 -mills on businesses) plus non-voted local millage not subject to voter rollback. Limit voter-approved increases to 4 -mills. 3) Set per-pupil funding guarantees subject to change by law requiring 2/3 vote. 4) Activate increased statutory penalty to deny all non-guaranteed state funds to schools not adopting core curriculum and improvement plans. Should this proposal be adopted? YES NO

”

Full Text

The full text of this measure is available here.

Path to the ballot

See also: Amending the Michigan Constitution

A two-thirds vote is required during one legislative session for the Michigan State Legislature to place a constitutional amendment on the ballot. That amounts to a minimum of 74 votes in the Michigan House of Representatives and 26 votes in the Michigan State Senate, assuming no vacancies. Amendments do not require the governor's signature to be referred to the ballot.

See also

1989 Measures

• 1989 Measures
• Education on the ballot
• Taxes on the ballot
• 1989 legislative sessions

Michigan

• Michigan ballot measures
• Michigan ballot measure laws

News and analysis

• Ballot measure lawsuits
• Ballot measure readability
• Ballot measure polls

External links

• Michigan Department of State, "Initiatives and Referendums Under the Constitution of the State of Michigan of 1963," December 5, 2008