(1) Except as otherwise provided in this section and section 1211c, the board of a school district shall levy not more than 18 mills for school operating purposes or the number of mills levied in 1993 for school operating purposes, whichever is less. A principal residence, qualified agricultural property, qualified forest property, supportive housing property, property occupied by a public school academy, and industrial personal property are exempt from the mills levied under this subsection except for the number of mills by which that exemption is reduced under this subsection. Except as otherwise provided in subsection (9), the board of a school district that had a foundation allowance for the 1994-95 state fiscal year greater than $6,500.00 may reduce the number of mills from which a principal residence, qualified agricultural property, qualified forest property, supportive housing property, property occupied by a public school academy, and industrial personal property are exempted under this subsection by up to the number of mills, as certified under section 1211a, required to be levied on a principal residence, qualified agricultural property, qualified forest property, supportive housing property, property occupied by a public school academy, and industrial personal property for the school district’s combined state and local revenue per membership pupil for the school fiscal year ending in 1995 to be equal to the school district’s foundation allowance for the state fiscal year ending in 1995, and the board also may levy in 1994 or a succeeding year that number of mills for school operating purposes on a principal residence, qualified agricultural property, qualified forest property, supportive housing property, property occupied by a public school academy, and industrial personal property.

    (2) Subject to subsection (3), if the department of treasury determines that the maximum number of mills allowed to be levied under subsection (1) on all classes of property was not sufficient for a school district’s combined state and local revenue per membership pupil for the school fiscal year ending in 1995 to be equal to the school district’s foundation allowance for that school fiscal year, the board of the school district may levy in 1994 or a succeeding year additional mills uniformly on all property up to the number of mills required for the school district’s combined state and local revenue per membership pupil for the school fiscal year ending in 1995 to be equal to the school district’s foundation allowance for the state fiscal year ending in 1995. However, the board of a school district described in this subsection, by board resolution, may elect to exempt each principal residence and all qualified agricultural property, qualified forest property, supportive housing property, property occupied by a public school academy, and industrial personal property located in the school district from some or all of the mills that the board is authorized to levy under this subsection.

    (3) After 1994, the number of mills a school district may levy under this section on any class of property must not exceed the lesser of the number of mills the school district was certified by the department of treasury under section 1211a to levy on that class of property under this section in 1994 or the number of mills required to be levied on that class of property under this section to ensure that the increase from the immediately preceding state fiscal year in the school district’s combined state and local revenue per membership pupil, calculated as if the school district had levied the maximum number of mills the school district was allowed to levy under this section regardless of the number of mills the school district actually levied, does not exceed the lesser of the dollar amount of the increase in the target foundation allowance under section 20 of the state school aid act of 1979, MCL 388.1620, from the immediately preceding state fiscal year or the percentage increase in the general price level in the immediately preceding calendar year. If the number of mills a school district is allowed to levy under this section in a year after 1994 is less than the number of mills the school district was allowed to levy under this section in the immediately preceding year, any reduction required by this subsection in the school district’s millage rate must be calculated by first reducing the number of mills the school district is allowed to levy under subsection (2) and then increasing the number of mills from which a principal residence, qualified agricultural property, qualified forest property, supportive housing property, property occupied by a public school academy, and industrial personal property are exempted under subsection (1). For calculations under this subsection, the target foundation allowance under section 20 of the state school aid act of 1979, MCL 388.1620, for the 2018-2019 state fiscal year is considered to be the basic foundation allowance under section 20 of the state school aid act of 1979, MCL 388.1620, for the 2018-2019 state fiscal year.

    (4) Commercial personal property is exempt from 12 of the mills levied under this section. However, if the number of mills from which industrial personal property is exempted for a specific school district is reduced under this section, then the number of mills from which commercial personal property is exempted for that school district must be reduced by that same number of mills.

    (5) Except as otherwise provided under this subsection, millage levied under this section must be approved by the school electors. For the purposes of this section, millage approved by the school electors before January 1, 1994 for which the authorization has not expired is considered to be approved by the school electors. With the approval of the state treasurer, a school district may pledge millage levied under this section for the repayment of a loan under the emergency municipal loan act, 1980 PA 243, MCL 141.931 to 141.942, money borrowed by the school district under section 1225, or the repayment of advances, overpayments, or other obligations of the school district to this state under section 15 of the state school aid act of 1979, MCL 388.1615.

    (6) If a school district levies millage for school operating purposes that is in excess of the limits of this section, the amount of the resulting excess tax revenue must be deducted from the school district’s next regular tax levy.

    (7) If a school district levies millage for school operating purposes that is less than the limits of this section, the board of the school district may levy at the school district’s next regular tax levy an additional number of mills not to exceed the additional millage needed to make up the shortfall.

    (8) A school district shall not levy mills allocated under the property tax limitation act, 1933 PA 62, MCL 211.201 to 211.217a, other than mills allocated to a school district that was previously a school district of the first class, for payment to a public library commission under section 11(4) of the property tax limitation act, 1933 PA 62, MCL 211.211, after 1993.

    (9) Beginning with taxes levied for 2011, if a school district had a foundation allowance for the 1994-95 state fiscal year greater than $6,500.00 and if the school district’s foundation allowance for the 2009-2010 state fiscal year was less than the basic foundation allowance prescribed for the 2009-2010 state fiscal year under section 20 of the state school aid act of 1979, MCL 388.1620, the school district may not reduce the number of mills from which certain classes of property are exempted from the levy of millage under subsection (1) and may not levy that number of mills on those classes of property as would otherwise be allowed under subsection (1).

    (10) As used in this section:

    (a) “Combined state and local revenue per membership pupil” means that term as defined in section 20 of the state school aid act of 1979, MCL 388.1620.

    (b) “Commercial personal property” means property classified as commercial personal property under section 34c of the general property tax act, 1893 PA 206, MCL 211.34c.

    (c) “Foundation allowance” means a school district’s foundation allowance as calculated under section 20 of the state school aid act of 1979, MCL 388.1620.

    (d) “General price level” means that term as defined in section 33 of article IX of the state constitution of 1963.

    (e) “Industrial personal property” means the following:

    (i) Except as otherwise provided in subparagraph (ii), property classified as industrial personal property under section 34c of the general property tax act, 1893 PA 206, MCL 211.34c.

    (ii) Beginning December 31, 2011, industrial personal property does not include a turbine powered by gas, steam, nuclear energy, coal, or oil the primary purpose of which is the generation of electricity for sale.

    (f) “Membership” means that term as defined in section 6 of the state school aid act of 1979, MCL 388.1606.

    (g) “Owner”, “person”, “principal residence”, and “qualified agricultural property” mean those terms as defined in section 7dd of the general property tax act, 1893 PA 206, MCL 211.7dd.

    (h) “Property occupied by a public school academy” means property occupied by a public school academy, urban high school academy, or school of excellence that is used exclusively for educational purposes.

    (i) “Qualified forest property” means that term as defined in section 7jj of the general property tax act, 1893 PA 206, MCL 211.7jj[1].

    (j) “School operating purposes” includes expenditures for furniture and equipment, for alterations necessary to maintain school facilities in a safe and sanitary condition, for funding the cost of energy conservation improvements in school facilities, for deficiencies in operating expenses for the preceding year or preceding years, including, but not limited to, repayment of an emergency loan under the emergency municipal loan act, 1980 PA 243, MCL 141.931 to 141.942, and for paying the operating allowance due from the school district to a joint high school district in which the school district is a participating school district under former part 3a. Taxes levied for school operating purposes do not include any of the following:

    (i) Taxes levied by a school district for operating a community college under part 25.

    (ii) Taxes levied under section 1212.

    (iii) Taxes levied under section 1356 for eliminating an operating deficit.

    (iv) Taxes levied for operation of a library under section 1451 or for operation of a library established under 1913 PA 261, MCL 397.261 to 397.262, that were not included in the operating millage reported by the district to the department as of April 1, 1993. However, a district may report to the department not later than April 1, 1994 the number of mills it levied in 1993 for a purpose described in this subparagraph that the school district does not want considered as operating millage and then that number of mills is excluded under this section from taxes levied for school operating purposes.

    (v) Taxes paid by a school district that was previously a school district of the first class to a public library commission under section 11(4) of the property tax limitation act, 1933 PA 62, MCL 211.211.

    (vi) Taxes levied under former section 1512 for operation of a community swimming pool. In addition, if a school district included the millage it levied in 1993 for operation of a community swimming pool as part of its operating millage reported to the department for 1993, the school district may report to the department not later than June 17, 1994 the number of mills it levied in 1993 for operation of a community swimming pool that the school district does not want considered as operating millage and then that number of mills is excluded under this section from taxes levied for school operating purposes.

    (k) “Supportive housing property” means real property certified as supportive housing property under chapter 3B of the state housing development authority act of 1966, 1966 PA 346, MCL 125.1459 to 125.1459a.