"Everything is on the table"

continued

Intermediate School District millage lost everywhere outside Ann Arbor, and by more than three to one in Freedom, Manchester, and Salem townships.

Most observers think the decisive moment came in mid-October, when McKinley president and philanthropist Albert Berriz came out against the tax. "It's almost impossible for any governmental entity of any kind to pass a tax increase in the face of well-organized opposition," says former Dexter superintendent and state rep John Hansen, speaking for himself and not for the Ann Arbor Chamber of Commerce (where he's interim president). "When a strong voice rises up and says 'Wait, this is not the right thing,' you can almost never overcome it."

"With us being a grassroots, volunteer group, it was very difficult to respond to the time and resources [the opponents] put in the last ten days," says millage supporter Lasinski. She believes the opponents shrewdly targeted outlying, more conservative areas--which voted in heavier numbers than usual.

Berriz donated at least $75,000 to the anti-millage campaign, but he contends that voters responded to the merits of the arguments, not their volume. He and his allies, former school board member Kathy Griswold and retired computer entrepreneur Ted Annis, argued that the tax increase would unfairly burden poor voters--and also that it wasn't needed. They claimed the schools could easily save the money they need by cutting administration and overhead.