Source: http://mi.findacase.com/research/wfrmDocViewer.aspx/xq/fac.20191029_0003641.MI.htm/qx
Timestamp: 2020-06-04 22:39:50
Document Index: 25670633

Matched Legal Cases: ['§ 33', 'art 9', '§ 33', 'art 9', '§ 11', 'art 8', '§ 2', 'art 10', '§ 3']

FindACase™ | Taxpayers for Michigan Constitutional Government v. State, Department of Technology
Taxpayers for Michigan Constitutional Government v. State, Department of Technology
Douglas B. Shapiro Judge.
It is undisputed that "school districts" constitute a "unit of local government" as defined in § 33 of the Amendment. Const 1963, art 9, § 33. The question then is whether PSAs are "school districts" for purposes of calculating state funding of education. We answer that question affirmatively in light of the Revised School Code, MCL 380.1 et seq., which provides that "[a] public school academy . . . is a school district for purposes of section 11 of article IX of the state constitution of 1963 . . . ." MCL 380.501(1). The constitutional provision referred to mandates that "[t]here shall be established a state school aid fund which shall be used exclusively for aid to school districts, higher education, and school employees' retirement systems, as provided by law." Const 1963, art 9, § 11. In addition, the School Aid Act, MCL 388.1601 et seq., includes PSAs in the definition of "district." MCL 388.1603(7). To receive state funding, PSAs must receive a "district code" from the Department of Education. MCL 388.1608b(1). Pursuant to these provisions, PSAs receive state funding earmarked for school districts.
Plaintiffs argue that state funds directed to PSAs should not be counted as state funds directed to school districts for purposes of the Headlee Amendment because PSAs do not resemble school districts in many other ways. Indeed, PSAs are school districts for a "limited purpose." OAG 1995-1996, No. 6915, p204 (September 4, 1996). See also OAG 2003-2004, No. 7154, p121-122 (March 31, 2004).[6] Nevertheless, PSAs are school districts for the purpose at issue in this case, i.e., the receipt of state school aid. Because state funding for PSAs is considered aid to a school district by law, we see no basis to not count those monies when calculating state spending paid to local government.
Plaintiffs' other argument is that PSAs could not have been understood as "school districts" when the Headlee Amendment was ratified. It is unlikely that the Headlee voters specifically intended that aid to PSAs would count as state aid to local governments considering that PSAs did not yet exist.[7] For the same reason, however, there is no reason to conclude that the voters specifically intended to exclude PSA funding from that calculation. What is clear is that the voters almost certainly understood that the state has discretion in how it chooses to "maintain and support a system of free public elementary and secondary schools . . . ." Const 1963, art 8, § 2. As the Supreme Court stated in Council of Organizations & Others for Educ About Parochiaid v Governor, 455 Mich. 557; 566 N.W.2d 208 (1997), "[t]he Legislature has had the task of defining the form and the institutional structure through which public education is delivered in Michigan since the time Michigan became a state." Id. at 571, citing Const 1835, art 10, § 3.[8]
Significantly, there is no language in the Headlee Amendment showing an intent to limit this ongoing authority of the state to define and fund school districts. Thus, the text does not compel the conclusion sought by plaintiffs. We have also reviewed the record presented to us by the parties and find no evidence that would demonstrate an intent either to limit the state's authority to define and fund school districts or to specifically bar the state from later defining the term "school district" to include PSAs.
The Legislature lawfully defined PSAs as school districts for the purposes of receiving state aid. Given that, we see no reason to overrule the state's decision to count those funds as payments to local government under the Headlee Amendment. Put simply, we decline to hold that PSAs are school districts for purposes of receiving state aid, but not school districts for purposes of determining how much state aid was received by school districts.[9]