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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

