Serving Gogebic, Iron and Ontonagon Counties
Serving Gogebic, Iron and Ontonagon Counties
WAKEFIELD — In addition to deciding a statewide ballot proposal regarding changing the way Michigan’s road construction is funded, voters within the boundaries of the Wakefield-Marenisco School District will also be asked to vote on a tax levy to enable the district to purchase school buses.
If approved, a tax levy of 0.6 mill would be used to generate $395,000 needed to purchase new buses for the district, according to information on the district’s website.
The 0.6 mill translates to 60 cents on each $1,000 of a property’s taxable value, according to language on the ballot.
As a property’s taxable value is half of a property’s assessed value, according to the district’s website, it would mean a home assessed at $60,000 would bring in $18 a year more in taxes if the millage is approved.
The district hopes to purchase four new buses over the next four years, according to the website, which would replace the four buses the district operates. The newest bus the district uses was purchased in 2008, but because it is used on the longest routes, it has the most miles on it.
If approved, the millage would be expected to paid off in seven years, which compares the need for buses to the need for the recently approved building sinking fund.
“This bus bond proposal will do for our transportation what the building fund does for our campus — it will allow the district to provide an up-to-date, safe and secure environment for all our students,” reads a letter from superintendent Cathy Shamion that was posted on the district’s site.
If voters reject the millage increase, the district could be forced to use money from its general fund or fund balance to purchase the buses, although Shamion argued against that idea at Monday’s board of education meeting.
“Until the state of Michigan provides schools with an adequate and stable source of revenue,” Shamion said Monday, “major capital purchases such as buses out of the general fund are impossible.”
A discussion to privatize busing in the district was also held at Monday’s meeting, however this could cause an increase in transportation costs to the district — with an initial bid for private busing services coming in at $12,000 more than what the district currently spends.
Editor’s note: Daily Globe reporter Kelsey Hansen contributed to this story.