East Lansing city officials want to save the city school district’s floundering budget by resurrecting a rental buyback program.

The program would allow the city to buy rental homes, rehabilitate them and then market the property to young families.

Many of those properties come from areas predominately occupied by students. To offset the possibility of fewer rentals in city neighborhoods, East Lansing has encouraged the development of large apartment complexes.

“With the prospect of 35,000 new beds being built on the city’s borders and stable enrollment at MSU, there is a prospect of open housing,” City Manager Ted Staton said. “(And) there is an absence of affordable homes in East Lansing.”

Those homes, if occupied by single families, would help a school system that has been plagued by low enrollment, causing schools to close and teachers to be laid off.

The district hasn’t seen an increase in area student enrollment in 20 years even though 70 percent of schools-of-choice students stay with the district.

That decline caused the school district to cut 108 part- and full-time employees this week.

Originally brought to the city council in 1999, many MSU students, including members of ASMSU, MSU’s undergraduate student government, were against a buyback program.

The plan, which could be in front of the council within six months, is a possible way for the city to help the East Lansing Public Schools resolve budget problems and poor student enrollment, Staton said.

School officials are looking to cut their budget by $3 million.

Since enrollment has been declining for so long, the district has been forced to make the cuts, Superintendent Tom Giblin said.

“We live and die by enrollment - anything that helps bring new families to East Lansing is good,” he said. “(But) we have to keep a balance, because this community exists because of the (MSU) students.”

By bringing in young families, the city could increase state funding for the school district, Staton said.

“There is a price tag on the head of each kid in the schools,” he said.

Despite past controversies, school officials are supporting the decision to bring the program back for review.

“The things the city can do in tandem with the school board is only a good thing,” said Susan Schmidt, president of the East Lansing school board.

Many of the city’s homes that are owner-occupied have older families that no longer have children, Schmidt said.

“It brings new energy into a town, and I think a community is always at its best when all generations are represented,” she said. “(And) many times they reinvest in those homes and keep the housing stock in good shape.”

Homes that are the least profitable to landlords most likely will be what the city will buy, landlord Fred Bauries said.

Typically, rentals that are popular with students are priced low, have four bedrooms, more than one bathroom and plenty of parking.

Bauries, who serves on the city’s planning commission, said the city’s goals are worthy and there is a need for families in East Lansing, but the city has no room to build new homes.

“I wish there were more owner-occupied homes in every neighborhood of the city,” he said. “And I think in the neighborhoods that are largely rental, homeowners can be a stabilizing presence.”

But young families may not like the idea of having students living next door to them.

Nicole Graf and her husband own a home on Collingwood Drive. They also have a 1-year-old daughter and a son on the way.

“I don’t want to live with a family next to students partying until 11:30 p.m.,” she said. “I don’t think, unless they buy back a whole neighborhood and turn it into residential, that families will want to live there.”

She said a low number of homes for families has Graf and her husband looking at moving to Haslett or Okemos.

“You can’t buy lots to build on here,” she said. “There is little vacant property left - not like Haslett or Okemos.”

But students also might not enjoy having young families as neighbors.

“Places close to campus are college-y houses,” said Tiffany Shahidehpour, who lives in an off-campus home.

“It’s cool living next to college kids instead of families. And most students need to live near campus more than families do.