Some tax proposals put before the voters are no-brainers.

The Oxford Community Schools’ non-homestead operating millage is one of them.

We strongly urge district voters to vote YES on the 10-year, 18.4442-mill request on the Aug. 2 primary ballot.

This request – both a renewal and a slight increase rolled into one – is an absolutely critical component of the district’s financial picture. It represents approximately 10 percent, or $5 million, of the general fund budget.

That’s not chump change. That’s some serious coin.

If lost, it would severely hurt Oxford students because drastic, unprecedented budget cuts would be required across the board.

As Superintendent Tim Throne said back in early May, “It would impact every student, every family.”

Like it or not, school districts across the state levy operating taxes 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.

Excluded from this tax are principal residential (or homestead) properties – i.e. the place you hang your hat and lay your head every night – and qualified agricultural properties.

Part of Michigan’s system for funding schools is based on the premise that districts are collecting the full 18 mills every year, even if they aren’t. This amount is then deducted from the per-pupil foundation allowance each district receives from Lansing.

If Oxford loses its operating millage, the state will not, we repeat, will not make up those funds. Oxford would be forced to move forward with a $5 million gaping hole in its budget and our students would suffer.

That’s completely unacceptable.

Now, even though the district is asking voters to approve 18.4442 mills, state law only allows districts to levy a maximum of 18 mills.

Oxford officials made the request a little higher 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.

The millage rate on the ballot is an estimate that represents an attempt to offset Headlee, so next year, the district can begin levying the hopefully-renewed operating tax at the full 18 mills.

Now, the exact rollback rate has been calculated and is known. It’s currently set at 17.8078 mills.

If this proposal passes at the ballot box, the non-homestead rate would be reset and levied at 18 mills next July. After that, it would continue to be subject to potential Headlee rollbacks just as other millages are.

School officials assured us they have no plans to levy more than 18 mills. State law will not allow it.

It should also be noted the school district is not going to attempt to use any of the voter-approved millage amount above the 18 as a buffer to offset potential Headlee rollbacks after 2017.

“It’s not like we’re trying to ask for 19 mills, so that we (have) got a cushion for another two or three years,” Throne told us in May. “We’re trying to get it to 18 (for the start of this proposed 10-year levy).”

If we thought for one single, solitary second that the school district was attempting to violate the spirit and letter of the Headlee Amendment with a buffer millage (as was tried years ago), we would urge voters to say no. In fact, we would have been shouting it at the top of our lungs for months now.

But that’s not the case here.

The district has put forth a reasonable request and all reasonable people should feel very comfortable voting in favor of it.

We know there are plenty of folks out there who bear the scars of the previous superintendent’s Reign of Terror and are still very angry and distrustful of the district.

We completely understand their feelings, however, that really should have no bearing on this proposal. The old superintendent is gone, thankfully. Throne is nothing like him and his leadership over the past year has demonstrated that over and over again.

The bottom-line is a ‘no’ vote won’t hurt the old superintendent and it won’t undo the damage he did, but it will most definitely hurt Oxford students and that’s just not right.

Again, without hesitation or reservation, we strongly urge Oxford school district voters to approve the millage request.

There’s just no good reason not to.