Lowell — Voters are being asked to consider two tax levies on the Tuesday, Aug. 5, ballot, both which will replace expiring millages, allowing Lowell Area Schools to continue to collect millions in annual funding.
Operating Millage Proposal
If approved, the six-year operating millage levy is expected to generate approximately $5.2 million per year, supporting the district’s $53 million operating budget, said Lowell Area Schools Superintendent Nate Fowler.
An operating millage funds day-to-day operating costs, including salaries, transportation, utilities and programs, and is the primary source of locally controlled revenue for most Michigan school districts.
Approval for LAS would allow the district to continue to levy 18 mills on all non-homestead properties, including businesses, rental properties and second homes. It would also authorize a 3-mill cushion to allow the district to continue to levy the full millage in the event of a Headlee rollback, which occurs when a local government’s millage rate must be reduced because the assessed value of existing property increases faster than the rate of inflation.
The millage does not apply to primary residences.
Michigan’s school funding system requires non-homestead property owners to contribute to local school operating costs through the tax. Without it, the district would receive significantly less per-pupil funding from the state with no replacement source, Fowler said.
“It represents about 10% of the overall budget,” he said. “If we lost that, we would be looking at a major loss of programs.”
Sinking Fund Millage
This 1-mill levy, which would replace a sinking fund millage passed in 2013 and renewed in 2020, would raise approximately $1.52 million per year that can be used for ongoing maintenance costs, security, technology and buses. These funds cannot be used for salaries, operating expenses or day-to-day costs.
For a home with a market value of $200,000, the sinking fund millage will cost taxpayers about $100 per year, or roughly $8.33 per month.
The district is seeking a new millage rather than a renewal of its existing one because the rules have changed regarding how sinking fund dollars can be used, and districts are now able to do more with the dollars than they were when Lowell’s sinking fund was last renewed.
“We have been able to maintain our roofs and parking lot and add secure vestibules and security in all of the buildings,” Fowler said “(A sinking fund) allows us to maintain the facilities and continue to have educational programming at all levels.”
Current projects underway this summer that are funded by the sinking fund include a roof replacement at Murray Lake Elementary Schools, extensive piping at Bushnell Elementary and new flooring and seating in the Lowell High School auditorium.
If the district loses this millage, capital improvements like roof replacements, HVAC systems, building repairs and security upgrades would either be delayed, funded through borrowing money, or not completed at all, Fowler said.
For more information, visit the LAS election website.
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