Michigan school bond approval rates fall

Voters in towns around Michigan are saying no to school bond initiatives at an increasing rate. That hasn’t stopped school districts from asking again — in one case, coming back with an even higher request.

Bridge Michigan analyzed bond data provided by Gongwer News Service in 2024.

About 75% of the 170 bonds put on ballots statewide were approved from 2018 to 2020.

That rate has dropped substantially after that. MIRS News reports that 45.5% of school bond questions passed in 2025 — a decline of 29.5 percentage points.

Experts suggest several possible reasons.

“I think it’s clear that voters and parents want strong public schools,” said Joshua Cowen, professor of education policy at Michigan State University, “but there is a range in their willingness to pay at the local level.”

In other states, Cowen notes, plans to cut or eliminate property tax collections for schools have usually been accompanied by plans to dedicate new sources of revenue from the state budget.

“I think with the cost of living so high right now, any new revenue requests are going to get extra scrutiny from voters,” Cowen said.

Roughly 64% of ballot initiatives in Michigan passed in May, according to Cowen. The same percentage, 64%, failed in Ohio elections.

“Ohio is also pressing a major overhaul of local and property taxes more generally,” Cowen said.

Saginaw Township Community Schools has requested new bonds in three out of the past four years, with voters rejecting each request.

The district asked for $242.9 million in May 2023. It returned with a request for $169.2 million in November 2025, and another for $94.2 million in May. Each proposal failed.

Voters in Brighton also rejected a $156 million school bond proposal in May that would have funded 170 projects.

Voters in the St. Johns Public Schools district& rejected bond proposals in 2024 and 2025. The district will ask voters in November to approve another bond proposal.

Opponents of the 2024 request for $92 million in new bonds argued that the new debt issue was bloated, adding that they were still paying off a previous bond.

After attending a 2024 meeting of the St. Johns school board, Chris DeLiso, now a county commissioner, said none of the six board members knew the basic facts about the money they were seeking to borrow.

The district attempted an even pricier bond request in 2025 — $99.75 million. But voters said no once again.

The district recently approved a $40 million proposal to be put on the November 2026 ballot.