Farmington Public Schools students won't be getting the after-school tutoring, smaller class sizes and expanded career programs that Superintendent Kelly Coffin planned to fund with a countywide tax increase. The Oakland County Regional Enhancement Millage was losing 51% to 49% in unofficial returns Wednesday morning, Aug. 5, with 719 of 720 precincts reporting and fewer than 7,000 votes separating the two sides, WXYZ reported.
The Detroit Free Press reported the measure as having failed in a close vote.
The result is a reversal. Early Tuesday night returns showed the millage holding a narrow lead before late-counted ballots pushed the "no" side ahead.
Had it passed, the 1.5-mill levy would have generated roughly $781 per student annually for Farmington Public Schools, or about $4,686 per student over its six-year term. Countywide, the millage would have raised an estimated $125.8 million, distributed on an equal per-pupil basis to 28 eligible districts.
For Farmington-area homeowners, the defeat means they will not pay the $150-per-year increase on every $100,000 of taxable value that the proposal carried.
What Farmington schools stood to gain
Before the vote, Coffin outlined five specific uses for the money in a July 24 C&G News interview, summarized by Farmington Focus: after-school tutoring, reduced class sizes and student supports, career and technical education, extracurricular activities, and teacher professional development focused on student literacy.
"If approved, these funds would help Farmington Public Schools continue investing in people, programs and supports that have the greatest impact on student success," Coffin told C&G News on July 24.
That money is off the table.
What's next
The vote count remains unofficial. Under Michigan election law, the Oakland County Board of Canvassers must certify primary results within approximately 14 days of the election, placing the deadline around Aug. 19. With fewer than 7,000 votes separating the sides, the final tally could still shift, though a reversal from this margin would be unusual.
Farmington Public Schools has not released a statement responding to the apparent defeat, and no fallback funding plan has been announced. Oakland County remains one of the few large Michigan counties without a dedicated countywide enhancement millage; neighboring Wayne and Macomb counties already have such levies.
