At a Monday night meeting, the Dexter Board of Education rejected any further consideration of annexing the Whitmore Lake School System.  According to this report in the Dexter Leader,

"the district will entertain a possible reconsideration with a fresh start if the state creates financial incentives."

In the resolution killing further consideration Dexter's Board asked that the State of Michigan

"initiate financial incentives for district annexation to mitigate the financial barriers such as the differential in fund balance and bond debt and start-up costs (aligning curriculum and instructional materials, combining computer and phone systems, unifying employee contracts, licensing and legal fees, administrative support, etc.) associated with merging school districts."

The magnitude of the dealbreaker gets spelled out in this Ann Arbor News report.

"The two Washtenaw County districts have a large disparity in their respective fund balances, Wendorf said. While Dexter has about $6 million in the bank, or nearly 15 percent of its operating budget, Whitmore Lake schools has about $25,000 in the bank, which is less than 1 percent of its operating budget."

In a slightly related story:

MLive's Lansing Bureau reports that the Michigan State Senate on March 25th voted 29-8 to approve paying off the $725,000 debt of a dissolved Saginaw area school system.

"Legislation State Sen. Ken Horn, R-Frankenmuth, introduced earlier this month to pay off the dissolved Buena Vista School District's debt has passed the Senate. 

Horn introduced Senate Bill 173 on March 3. It was recommended for approval by the Senate Appropriations Committee after it considered the bill at its March 11 meeting.