ANN ARBOR, MI – Some local school officials are sounding the alarm on the big-picture impact and potential financial losses involved in a massive brownfield plan OK’d by Washtenaw County commissioners this week.
After a lengthy debate late Wednesday, May 20, into early Thursday, the county board green-lit more than $300 million in brownfield tax incentives for the Ann Arbor South project, a 20-acre development that promises to bring affordable housing and new commercial space to the city’s south side.
The plan, which is the county’s largest ever, would capture roughly $135 million in Ann Arbor Public Schools and state education taxes and at least $27 million typically collected by the Washtenaw Intermediate School District over 30 years…