Waterford School District v. State Board of Education
Waterford School District v. State Board of Education
Opinion of the Court
In a complaint filed on March 7, 1980, plaintiffs alleged that a reduction in the amount of per pupil state aid to the Waterford School District (located primarily in Waterford Township, Oakland County) violated the so-called Headlee Amendment to the Michigan Constitution.
On remand, both plaintiffs and defendants filed motions for summary judgment, which were denied by the trial court. In July, 1981, plaintiffs
This litigation is the result of a reduction in state funding to the Waterford School District. Defendants, pursuant to the school aid formula found in MCL 388.1621(1); MSA 15.1919(921X1), reduced state aid for education in the school district from $660.27 per pupil in fiscal year 1978-1979 to $614.18 per pupil in fiscal year 1979-1980.
On appeal, plaintiffs raise five basic issues, the first three of which involve construction of the Headlee Amendment, Const 1963, art 9, §§ 25-34. They are: (1) whether art 9, § 25 created substantive rights and duties; (2) whether art 9, § 29, prohibiting the state from reducing its financial proportion of the necessary costs of any existing activity or service required of local government units by state law, refers to all activities or services appropriate to providing public education; (3) whether art 9, § 30 requires the state to allocate a fixed percentage of its budget to public school districts; (4) whether the current funding of public education violates equal protection of the law; and (5) whether the trial court erred in refusing to grant plaintiffs’ request for equitable relief._
At trial, plaintiffs contended that it does and requested injunctive and mandamus relief for the allegedly irreparable, continuing damage to the district, its schools and its students. The trial court denied plaintiffs’ request.
The impact of the Headlee Amendment on state aid to a school district was also at issue in Durant v Dep’t of Education (On Remand),
Resolution of plaintiffs’ first three issues rests on interpretation of the Headlee Amendment. In Durant (On Remand), supra, a case of first impression, this Court addressed the amendment’s effect on state financed school aid._
"Property taxes and other local taxes and state taxation and spending may not be increased above the limitations specified herein without direct voter approval. The state is prohibited from requiring any new or expanded activities by local governments without full state financing, from reducing the proportion of state spending in the form of aid to local governments, or from shifting the tax burden to local government. A provision for emergency conditions is established and the repayment of voter approved bonded indebtedness is guaranteed. Implementation of this section is specified in Sections 26 through 34, inclusive, of this Article.”
The trial court correcty found that § 25 was an introductory paragraph to the amendment which, by its very language, indicates that its substantive implementation is specified in the sections of the statute which follow. It is §§ 29 and 30 which detail the prohibition against shifting the tax burden to local government. There is no indication that these introductory sentences are to be given the substantive effect of creating specific rights and duties.
Section 29 states:
"The state is hereby prohibited from reducing the state financed proportion of the necessary costs of any existing activity or service required of units of Local Government by state law. A new activity or service or an increase in the level of any activity or service beyond that required by existing law shall not be required by the legislature or any state agency of units of Local Government, unless a state appropriation is made and disbursed to pay the unit of Local Government for any necessary increased costs. The provision of
Section 30 states:
"The proportion of total state spending paid to all units of Local Government, taken as a group, shall not be reduced below that proportion in effect in fiscal year 1978-79.”
Plaintiffs contend that § 29 refers to all activities or services provided by a local school board that are appropriate to its constitutionally required duty to provide meaningful education.
This Court held to the contrary in Durant (On Remand), supra, stating:
"[T]he fact that the state has delegated to local school districts its constitutional duty to provide education does not result in the conclusion that all functions performed by a school district are required by state law within the meaning of the Headlee Amendment.”
In Durant (On Remand), this Court found that the term "state law” as used in § 29 refers only to state statutes and state agency regulations which require school districts to provide a few specific and identifiable services and activities.
"We hold that such discretionary programs do not fall within the purview of § 29 of the Headlee Amendment because they are not specifically mandated by the state Legislature or a state agency. It would certainly be unreasonable to hold that a local school board may
The Court further held that:
"[T]he 'necessary costs’ of a required service or activity are those costs which are essential to the completion of the intended purpose of the state-mandated activity, and they must be determined on a statewide basis, computed according to the actual cost to the state, were it to provide the required activity or service; * * * the state is not required to maintain the level of unrestricted state school aid which was present at the time § 29 became effective; and * * * the state is required to maintain the level of funding of categorical aid for the necessary costs of programs required of school districts by state statute or state agency regulation that existed at the time § 29 became effective.”
The first three questions raised by plaintiffs have, therefore, been resolved by this Court’s opinion in Durant (On Remand), supra.
Plaintiffs’ final argument that the trial court erred in refusing to grant plaintiffs’ request for equitable relief is similarly without merit. Plaintiffs contend that the trial court erred in refusing to interpret the phrase "for each mill of operating tax levied” to mean "for each mill of operating tax authorized”.
In construing statutes, this Court is governed by the traditional rules of construction.
As the trial judge stated:
"Plaintiffs’ remedy, if any is warranted, is with the legislature, not with this Court. The taxpayers have expressed their opinion as to the financial needs of plaintiff school district and the defendants, under the current state aid system, have provided the school district all that is legally permissible. The real cause of any financial hardship was the loss of over one million dollars per year in local revenues due to the operation of the Headlee Amendment to the Michigan Constitution, an event the defendants had no control over. The taxpayers who benefited from the rollback cannot, in fairness to all, be treated any differently than the other taxpayers of the state.”
We affirm the trial court’s order granting summary judgment.
Const 1963, art 9, §§ 25-34.
Waterford School Dist v State Bd of Ed, 98 Mich App 658; 296 NW2d 328 (1980), lv den 409 Mich 934 (1980).
GCR 1963, 117.2(1).
Defendants’ figures, $663.53 in 1978-79 and $614.19 in 1979-80, differ slightly from those cited here, which are taken from the trial judge’s findings of fact. However, these findings are not challenged as clearly erroneous on appeal, and their primary significance is to illustrate what all parties agree occurred: a reduction in the amount of state aid.
129 Mich App 517; 342 NW2d 591 (1983).
See Durant v Dep’t of Education, 110 Mich App 351; 313 NW2d 571 (1981).
Durant v Dep’t of Education, 413 Mich 862; 317 NW2d 854 (1982).
Durant v Dep’t of Education (On Remand), supra.
129 Mich App 527-528.
129 Mich App 533-534.
Avon Twp v State Boundary Comm, 96 Mich App 736, 752-753; 293 NW2d 691 (1980), lv den 410 Mich 853 (1981).
See, San Antonio Independent School Dist v Rodriguez, 411 US 1; 93 S Ct 1278; 36 L Ed 2d 16 (1973).
MCL 388.1621; MSA 15.1919(921).
Pittsfield Twp v City of Saline, 103 Mich App 99, 104; 302 NW2d 608 (1981).
Case-law data current through December 31, 2025. Source: CourtListener bulk data.