Serving Gogebic, Iron and Ontonagon Counties
Serving Gogebic, Iron and Ontonagon Counties
By RICHARD JENKINS
Ironwood — Among the items being decided in Tuesday’s Michigan primary election will be a millage for the Ironwood Area Schools.
Voters in the city of Ironwood, as well as Ironwood and Erwin townships, will be asked to approve a 5-year millage so the district can borrow $735,000 for the purchase of new school buses and various renovations and improvements to the Luther L. Wright K-12 School.
The estimated amount expected to be levied in 2019 is .71 mill, according to the ballot language, with an average annual millagerate over the measure’s five-year life span of 1.02 mills.
The 1 mill translates to $1 per $1,000 of taxable value.
The district plans to use the money generated from the millage to purchase five buses, upgrade Luther L. Wright K-12 School’s elevator and air exchange system, make various technological upgrades and improve the school’s energy efficiency by switching to LED lights.
According to estimates the district has received; the buses are expected to total $425,000, the elevator work will cost an estimated $55,000, the work on the air exchange and heating system will cost $54,000, LED lighting upgrades will cost between $16,848 and $32,286, improvements to the building’s air conditioning is $9,000 and $75,000 will be used for the technology upgrades — which includes improving the school’s WiFi, purchasing additional Chromebooks and improving staff technology and the school’s computer lab.
At a recent informational meeting on the millage, Ironwood Superintendent Travis Powell said if any of the project costs come in lower than expected, the unused money would be returned to taxpayers and the district can’t use it elsewhere.
