There’s an old axiom in politics – if at first you don’t succeed, try again in the next election.

At its Tuesday, Aug. 9 meeting, the Oxford Board of Education was expected to vote on whether or not to place a pair of millage proposals on the November ballot to make up for the narrow defeat of a $5 million-per-year operating tax request in the Aug. 2 primary election.

“This was my first (election),” said Tim Throne, who took the reins as superintendent in May 2015. “I stepped up to the plate and I whiffed. Okay, I’ll take it. Let’s go on, let’s learn from it and hopefully, we’ll do a better job the second time.”

One proposal would be a 10-year renewal of the 17.8078-mill operating tax on all non-homestead property in the school district. If approved, it would generate an estimated $5.19 million in the first year of its levy.

The other would be a 10-year request to increase that same operating tax by 0.1922 mill in order to raise it back to the maximum 18 mills the state assumes school districts are levying on non-homestead property. If approved, it would generate an estimated $55,388 in the first year of its levy.

Both millages would be levied from 2017 through 2026.

Aug. 16 is the deadline to place proposals on the Nov. 8 general election ballot.

Throne said he prefers asking two separate questions so as to avoid any confusion or misunderstanding. This way, one proposal could be accurately labeled as a renewal, while the other could be properly labeled as an increase.

“We talked about it and I just felt like I’d rather go that way than try and mesh the wording together,” he said. “I felt like that was the best thing to do. It was the most clear.”

It also gives voters a choice. If somebody wants to vote for the renewal, but not the increase, they would be able to do that, according to Throne.

“They’ve got that option,” he said.

This way it’s not an all-or-nothing proposition for the district.

“I may lose $50,000, but I won’t lose $5.1 million,” Throne noted.

The current non-homestead operating tax of 17.8078 mills expires with this year’s July and December property tax bills. This tax generates approximately $5 million annually for the district.

If the district does not get a millage passed in November, it’s going to have to suffer the consequences of last week’s election.

Sixty-one votes led to the failure of Oxford’s request for a 10-year, 18.4442-mill operating tax on all non-homestead property in the district beginning in July 2017. It went down 1,984 to 1,923.

The proposal was a renewal and an increase all rolled into one.

“I’m disappointed,” said Throne during the late hours following the election. “Obviously, either we didn’t communicate well enough or the voters spoke their mind. There’s not much to argue about that.”

“I’ve got to look at myself first and foremost,” he continued. “What could I do better? What could I have done more of? We put things out on our website, our Facebook (page), we put stuff in our quarterly (newsletter), we did some articles in the newspaper.

“I felt like we got our message out. We tried to explain it as well as we could. And either we didn’t communicate it as well as we could or people didn’t feel like it was important enough to vote for. But it is what it is. Those are the rules we live by.”

Throne noted he’s disappointed more people didn’t vote in the primary election.

For example, Oxford Township had a 22.78 percent voter-turnout, while Addison saw 24.6 percent of its voters cast a ballot.

The school district is comprised of portions of six townships in two counties.

In Oakland County, voters in Oxford, Addison and Brandon townships failed the millage proposal 1,905 to 1,865.

In neighboring Lapeer County, voters in Metamora and Dryden townships rejected it 79 to 58. Nobody voted either way on the proposal in Hadley Township.

The loss of the operating tax means the district will be forced to reduce its general fund budget by approximately 10 percent if a renewal is not approved at some point.

“This (revenue loss) impacts our 2017-18 school year and beyond,” explained Sam Barna, assistant superintendent of business and operations. “After December (2016), we cannot levy (the non-homestead operating millage) until this is passed (by voters).”

“It’s not going to be an overnight impact,” Throne said. “Obviously, that’s huge. It gives us some time to look at what we’re doing, what we’re communicating and what does the community want . . . (It’s) definitely time to sit back, reflect, learn and figure out what our next steps are.”

The state will not make up this lost $5 million. Part of Michigan’s school funding system is based on the premise that districts are collecting the full 18 mills every year, even if they aren’t. This amount is then subtracted from the per-pupil foundation allowance each district receives from Lansing.

“Realistically, we’d probably have to shut down a school, move kids to other buildings,” Throne said. “We’d have to eliminate arts, athletics, cut transportation down . . . We’d have to make major cuts. It is what it is.”

State law allows districts to levy up to 18 mills on non-homestead properties, which include businesses, commercial and industrial properties, second homes, vacation homes, rental properties and vacant land not adjacent to an owner’s homestead property. Exempt from the operating tax are principal residential (homestead) and qualified agricultural properties.

If the district’s proposal had been approved, no more than 18 mills could have been legally levied. School officials set the request at 18.4442 mills a few months ago because at the time the ballot language was submitted, the rollback required by the Headlee Amendment had not yet been calculated for this year. Officials requested this rate in an attempt to offset the reduction and begin levying the tax at the full 18 mills next year.

Oxford voters first approved the 18-mill tax in 1996, then renewed it in 2006.

To find out what happened at the Aug. 9 school board meeting, please read “School millage proposals to appear on Nov. ballot