TRAVERSE CITY — Eight school proposals on May 6 special election ballots will be decided by voters in Grand Traverse, Leelanau, Kalkaska and Antrim counties.
This is the first election after the results of a comprehensive statewide school facility study were released in March. The study, commissioned by the state Legislature in 2023, focused on school facility heating, ventilation and air conditioning, plumbing, roofing, fire prevention and electrical service needs.
Across the state, almost $23 billion in needed school infrastructure work was identified, but the study did not include costs for athletic fields or new construction.
Different types of millage levies can help school districts address various financial needs. Current ballot proposals include bond requests, operating millage, millage adjustments and sinking funds.
While the millage rates and usage may vary, all rely on the taxable valuation of a property, which is different from its market value. Property owners can see their taxable valuation on their yearly tax statement or in their city, township, or village assessor’s office.
Districts must pay the township for the cost of the special election – splitting that cost with any units of government, if there are other proposals on the ballot. The cost won’t be known until after the election.
Despite the cost of a special election, there are reasons district officials may choose to have them. Superintendents may need to consider when other millage levies are set to expire, or if they want to have the November election as a fallback, if the May proposal should fail.
“Our district typically aligns our bond proposal with special elections to ensure voter attention and allow time-sensitive facility planning and construction to proceed without delay,” said Mike Ritter, superintendent of Charlevoix Public Schools. “The timing is also influenced by the expiration of prior bonds and the opportunity to keep the overall tax burden as low as possible.”
Bond proposals
Boyne City Public Schools, Central Lake Public Schools, Charlevoix Public Schools and Kingsley Area Schools all have bond proposals on the May 6 ballot to fund various renovations, upgrades, purchases and construction.
Many of the proposals would expand learning spaces with new additions, upgrade technologies, improve security and install energy-efficient upgrades.
Funds can only be used for capital expenditures like additions, remodeling, athletic facilities, playgrounds, furnishings, equipment, etc. They cannot be used for operational expenses like employee salaries and benefits and school supplies. Bond funds are audited by an independent auditing firm.
Boyne City Public Schools wants to borrow up to $24 million to be paid off within 20 years and issue its general obligation unlimited tax bonds to fund new additions, equipment, technology, purchasing school buses, playground equipment, athletics fields, facilities and sites. An estimated 1 mill ($1 on each $1,000 of taxable valuation) levy would have a simple average annual millage of 1.49 ($1.49 on each $1,000 of taxable valuation) to retire the debt.Central Lake Public Schools voters will consider a 2.01 mills ($2.01 on each $1,000 of taxable valuation) levy, a 1.97-mill net increase over the prior year’s levy. The millage would raise $15,395,000 to be paid off within 30 years and be used for remodeling, equipment, security improvements, furnishings, technology, playground equipment, structures and facilities. The estimated simple average annual millage anticipated to retire this bond debt would be 1.63 mills ($1.63 on each $1,000 of taxable valuation).Charlevoix Public Schools voters will consider a 0.68 mill ($0.68 on each $1,000 of taxable valuation) 10-year bond, a 0.40-mill net decrease over the prior year’s levy. The $8 million raised would be used for additions, remodeling, equipment, furnishings, technology, school buses, athletic field improvements and facilities. The estimated simple average annual millage required to retire the debt would be 0.79 mill ($0.79 on each $1,000 of taxable valuation).Kingsley Area Schools voters will consider a $39.2-million bond proposal to be paid over 30 years. The funds would provide multiple new additions, remodeling, equipment, security upgrades and technology. The estimated millage that would be levied for the proposed bonds in 2025 is 4.90 mills ($4.90 on each $1,000 of taxable valuation), with an average annual millage of 4.07 mills ($4.07 on each $1,000 of taxable valuation) to retire the debt.
Operating Millages
Elk Rapids Schools and Leland Public Schools voters will consider millages to fund the operating costs of the districts. Operating millage pays for everyday requirements to cover payroll, utilities, classroom supplies, and maintenance. It also funds athletics and extracurricular activities.
Michigan law requires schools to maintain an operating millage, capped at 18 mills, for districts to receive any state funds.
“The operating millage is essential for our school and, frankly, all schools, to stay open,” Superintendent Stephanie Long said.
Leland school officials are hoping to renew their operating millage at the current rate.
Meanwhile, Elk Rapids Schools voters are being asked to OK replacing an incremental portion of the operational millage levy that was lost due to a Headlee rollback.
Unexpected property value growth that occurred during and after the COVID-19 pandemic triggered the rollback, Superintendent Bryan McKenna said.
The Headlee Amendment limits property tax increases to 5 percent or the rate of inflation, whichever is less. When property value growth exceeds the rate of inflation, as it has in Elk Rapids in recent years, the taxes levied are “rolled back” as the state applies the lower inflation rate.
So if taxable value goes up faster than inflation, the millage rate typically has to be reduced – and that means a district will be operating on a rate lower than the 18 mills approved by voters.
In Elk Rapids, the proposed 4-mill adjustment, if approved by voters Tuesday, would allow the district to restore its operational rate of 18 mills for the duration of the original levy.
Elk Rapids Public Schools voter will consider an operating millage increase of 4 mills ($4 on each $1,000 of taxable valuation) on non-homestead and non-exempt properties for the next four years to restore millage lost as a result of the reduction required by the Michigan Constitution of 1963. The funds would go toward operational costs like payroll, utilities, athletics, and classroom supplies.Leland Public Schools voters will consider an operating millage renewal that would maintain the current rate of 10.9013 mills ($10.9013 on each $1,000 of taxable valuation) on non-homestead non-exempt properties. If approved, the expected levy will be more than $5.35 million in 2025.
Sinking funds
Both Suttons Bay Public Schools and Alba Public Schools voters will consider millage requests to fund the districts’ sinking funds.
Sinking funds allow districts the flexibility to respond to unexpected issues when they arise, like repairs and small-scale upgrades, without using operational funds, Suttons Bay Public Schools Superintendent Casey Petz said.
In Michigan, the Revised School Code approves sinking funds being used for the purchase of real estate; construction or repair of school buildings; school security improvements; buying or upgrading of technology; buying student transportation or maintenance vehicles; and the maintenance costs of those trucks and vans.
The Suttons Bay district has about 40 acres of grounds and several hundred square feet of building space. As a result, “there is always something that is in need of repair or replacement,” Petz said.
Alba Public School District voters will consider a levy not to exceed 2 mills ($2 on each $1,000 of taxable valuation) for a period of 10 years, 2025 to 2034, to create a sinking fund. The money would be used for the construction or repair of school buildings, security, technology, buses, bus maintenance, truck and van purchases, personnel, etc. If approved and levied in 2025, approximately $154,000 will be collected.Suttons Bay Public Schools voters will consider renewing the building and site sinking fund millage that expires with the 2025 tax levy. The ballot proposal would authorize 0.4718 mill ($0.4718 on each $1,000 of taxable valuation) to be levied against all property in Suttons Bay Public Schools’ boundary for five years. The sinking fund would be used for school security, upgraded technology, the construction or repair of school buildings, etc. If approved, the estimated revenue in 2026 will be approximately $359,480.