Stories I would be looking into if I were actually putting my major to use. 3/16/2011

Just a quick run through of issues present in my fair city, Southfield that deserve looking into.

Abatements- In the last regular city council meeting, Councilman Lantz and a woman at the meeting expressed displeasure at the tax abatements the city was giving out. The impression that I got was that other city council members felt that abatements bring jobs to the city. I should look into how city tax abatements affect the local economy.

Loss of Money in the City's Schools - In the last school board meeting the CFO of the school board painted a dire picture of the school's budget. How much money less money is the school district bringing as compared to when I was a student.

Loss of Money Due to the Real Estate Crisis-Due to the real-estate crisis neither the city nor the schools are bringing as much money as they used to. How much money was lost due to falling property values?

Open Enrollment Tuition- At the last few school board meetings I saw a lot of angry parents. They were upset that the district is no longer going to help them pay if they wish for their students to go to schools in other districts.


How the State Budget and Fiscal Policy is going to affect the Local Government - The School Board is concerned with cuts in the budget and the city government is concerned with State Senate Bill 0034 which would eliminate the personal property tax.