Tax the rich to pay for schools? Michigan voters may get chance in 2026

• Advocates want voters to consider a ballot measure in 2026 to raise taxes on the rich to better fund to public schools
• The proposal could look similar to a plan Massachusetts voters approved in 2022 
• The Michigan plan is estimated to generate about $1.7 billion annually in new money for schools

A coalition of education groups, including a teacher union, is exploring a ballot proposal to raise taxes on the wealthy to raise money for Michigan K-12 schools. 

The “Invest in MI Kids” proposal would add a 4% to 5% tax for individuals who make more than $500,000 a year and couples who make more than $1 million a year. 

That’s atop of the existing state flat income tax of 4.25%, said Molly Sweeney, director of the 482 Forward, a Detroit group involved in the effort. 

The tax would apply to a tiny fraction of taxpayers — less than 60,000 of the state’s 4.9 million filers in 2021 made more than $500,000 — and raise about $1.7 billion. That’s less than a 10% increase of the state’s $20.6 billion K-12 budget.

“We’ve constantly been underfunding (schools,)” Sweeney said. “So they’re just having to do more with less every single year. … Our coalition decided to take it into our own hands and try to do a citizen-led ballot initiative to raise that revenue.”

One study from this year says schools need $23 billion in repairs and renovations.

The proposal isn’t final, but Sweeney told Bridge Michigan the proposed ballot measure could be presented at the June State Board of Canvassers meeting. 

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The coalition includes the AFT Michigan teacher union, 482 Forward, Michigan Education Justice Coalition, Oakland Forward, Student Advocacy Center of Michigan, Rising Voices and Up North Advocacy Urban Core Collective.

Already, nearly 1,000 people have been trained as circulators to collect signatures to force the issue onto the ballot, Sweeney said.

“We’re all getting our volunteers in order just to press go once we get the actual petition ready,” she said. 

She said the surtax is similar to what has been done in Massachusetts, where voters approved a tax in 2022 for those who make more than $1 million a year to support public education and transportation.  

Supporters hope to put the measure on the 2026 ballot, when state voters also will elect a new governor.

If it proves popular among voters, that could favor Democrats. 

Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, a Democrat, was elected twice on ballots that featured ballot measures that drew voters to the polls: A 2022 measure to enshrine abortion rights into the constitution and a 2018 vote to legalize recreational marijuana.

Political strategist John Sellek of Harbor Strategic Affairs said he isn’t sure the school tax proposal would resonate with voters. He predicted the effort could face “quite a fight” amid economic worries.

There’s been “rhetoric and attempts around ‘tax the rich’ or graduated income tax in the past and if it was popular, we would already have one,” said Sellek, who worked on Republican Bill Schuette’s 2018 campaign for governor.

Sellek also said voters are skeptical of more money for schools, as indicated by school bond votes. Earlier this month, voters rejected nearly $1.2 billion in school bonds out of about $2.1 billion requests.