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Thursday, May 19, 2016
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com NEWS
City Council decreases funding
for Ann Arbor Connector plans
FY 2017 budget cuts
funding for next stage of
project to 2 percent
By BRIAN KUANG
Daily Summer News Editor
In a lengthy and — at times
contentious — six-hour meeting
Monday night, the Ann Arbor City
Council amended and passed its $370
million budget for the 2017 fiscal year.
The
2017
budget
decreases
expenditures by $10 million from
fiscal year 2016 levels and increases
the total city staff from 722 to 729.
Public safety and law enforcement is
the largest expense at $46.8 million,
followed by employee pensions ($37.7
million), payments on water and
sewage bonds ($34.8 million and
$33.7 million respectively), and road
repairs ($23.9 million).
In addition, a total of 16 budget
amendments, allocating about $1.3
million in additional funds, were
put forward by councilmembers for
debate during the session.
The
final
budget
allocates
$345,000 for the amendments, with
$100,000 going to the city’s affordable
housing fund, $60,000 to outdoor
wintertime ice rinks, $85,000 for
citywide environmental initiatives,
$15,000 for a study on removing a
historical city-owned structure at 415
W. Washington St., $75,000 additional
funds for the city’s annual deer cull
and $100,000 for the construction of
additional streetlights.
Also of note was the city’s
commitment to the Ann Arbor
Connector project, which envisions a
light rail line connecting the southern
edge of the city, through downtown,
Central Campus, the Medical Center
and North Campus.
The
project
—
which
is
a
collaboration
between
the
city,
the University of Michigan, the
Downtown Development Authority
and the local transit authority — is
expected to enter the next-stage,
which involves a $3 to 4 million
environmental impact study. City
residents
have
recently
voiced
concerns that the primary beneficiary
of the rail project would be the
University, suggesting the city would
be disproportionately shouldering
a financial burden, despite the fact
that the University has committed
to funding at least 75 percent of the
project, which is expected to cost
hundreds of millions.
The original budget planned for
the city to contribute $184,000 to
its share of the project’s next phase,
but an amendment sponsored by
councilmembers Graydon Krapohl
(D–Ward 4) and Sabra Briere (D–
Ward 1) cut this figure by $90,000.
The resolution narrowly passed 6-5,
with support from Councilmembers
Briere, Krapohl, Jane Lumm (I–Ward
2), Sumi Kailasapathy (D–Ward 1),
Jack Eaton (D–Ward 4) and Zachary
Ackerman (D-Ward 3).
This
means
the
city
would
contribute $60,000 to the estimated
$3 million study and spend $34,000
on staff training pertaining to the
Connector. The University is planning
to take 90 percent of the cost of the
study, while TheRide will foot six
percent of the bill and the city of Ann
Arbor and Downtown Development
Authority will each take two percent.
Councilmember
Eaton,
who
supported the resolution, argued
the city should fund the Connector
project proportionally to how much
it would benefit the city. The project
is expected to cost at least $500
million. with 80 percent covered
by federal grants, leaving at least
$100 million to be divided between
the City, University, and other local
jurisdictions.
“This
is
an
important
transportation project, and I would
like to see it go forward, and I think
2 percent is a number that we can live
with,” Eaton said.
Mayor Christopher Taylor voiced
opposition to the cut in the city’s
commitment and voted against the
amendment, arguing the city stands
to benefit significantly from the
project and should not reduce its role.
“I’m not inclined to support this
effort,” Taylor said. “The University
is taking the lead to finance the
Connector, as it must, but the
Connector will be a tremendous
benefit to quality of life in Ann Arbor.
We need to do our part.”
Presumptive
nominee will focus
on student loans,
high tuition rates
By CAITLIN REEDY
Daily Staff Reporter
Candidates seeking to capitalize
on historic rates of student turnout
in this year’s presidential race are
taking public stances on student
debt and higher education funding
and accessibility.
Democrats addressed education
policy upon announcement of the
current front-runners’ campaigns.
Sen. Bernie Sanders’ (D–Vermont)
campaign
centers
around
education,
particularly
tuition-
free public universities, as a key
issue in his bid for the Democratic
nomination. Sanders’ opponent,
former Secretary of State Hillary
Clinton, accordingly debuted a
wide-reaching plan called the New
College Compact, which aims to
create debt-free college, also calling
specific attention to the issue of
sexual assault on college campuses.
Businessman Donald Trump,
the freshly minted presumptive
Republican nominee, had yet to
focus on his appeal to college
students prior to his competitors’
dropping out of the race for the
party’s nomination. While Trump
has yet to announce a cohesive
platform on his campaign site,
he has become more vocal on the
issue.
Democrats
Both Sanders and Clinton made
education reform central to their
campaigns, but approached policy
changes differently.
Sanders focuses on ensuring
all students can attend public
universities and colleges for free,
boasting a history of attempts to
tackle the rising cost of attending
college.
Last
May,
Sanders
introduced the College for All Act
on the Senate floor, which aimed
to allocate $47 billion each year
toward paying off undergraduate
students’ tuition and fees at public
institutions.
Sanders’s
current
platform
goes beyond free tuition to cut
student loan interest rates down
to 2.32 percent. The senator also
calls for an expansion of need-
based financial aid and work-study
programs to assist college students,
all of which is estimated to cost $74
billion per year. Sanders claimed he
would finance this hefty budget by
taxing Wall Street speculators.
In a March interview with the
Daily, LSA junior Nicholas Kolenda,
president of the University of
Michigan’s Students for Sanders,
said Sanders’s plan is inclusive of
the entire population.
“It’s a slippery slope when you
exclude people from public goods
because they can’t pay for it,”
Kolenda said. “We don’t exclude
the top one percent from public
growth because they can privately
pay for college.”
Clinton, on the other hand,
does not plan to make college
entirely free. Her New College
Compact plan solely targets the
exponential rise of college debt,
tasking universities with taking
responsibility for their tuition
levels.
Cynthia
Wilbanks,
vice
president
for
government
relations at the University, said
the University is similarly working
more closely with students in
response to candidates’ demands to
hold universities more accountable
for tuition levels.
“The most important thing is
that we have receptive students
and families,” she said. “One of
the ways we have been called to
be more helpful is spending more
time with what it is students are
expected to do in terms of financial
aid.”
LSA junior Anushka Sarkar,
outreach
director
and
event
coordinator
for
Students
for
Hillary, said Clinton’s plan is far
more attainable than the one
proposed by Sanders. Clinton aims
to lower debt, but also require
families to make an affordable and
realistic family contribution to the
ANDREW RABAH/Daily
Ann Arbor Mayor Christopher Taylor attends an Ann Arbor City Council meeting on Monday.
Trump campaign
formalizes higher
education policy
GOVERNMENT
See TRUMP, Page 9