ALPENA — The Alpena Public Schools Board of Education has taken its first step toward a tax proposal that would fund renovations to all school buildings and the construction of a new Ella White Elementary School.

In a special meeting on Monday, the board approved an application to the Michigan Treasury that would allow the district to sell up to $66 million in bonds, Superintendent John VanWagoner said. Property owners in the district would repay those bonds over 25 years through a 2-mill property tax increase that would cost the owner of a $100,000 house about $100 per year.

Monday’s decision was not the final step in the process. Trustees have until February to decide whether or not to put the tax proposal before voters on the May ballot. If trustees hear from residents that this plan isn’t one they’d support, the board could change direction.

“They still have the authority and really that ability to wait to make that final decision until February,” Van Wagoner said.

If approved by voters, the money would fund renovations to buildings throughout the district, with the largest project being major renovations to Alpena High School and a focus on security upgrades to every building in which students attend classes, VanWagoner said.

The district would also tear down the existing Ella White Elementary School and build a new, similarly sized, two-story building there. Early estimates showed building a new school would be cheaper than renovating the existing one.

Ella White is the district’s largest elementary school, with 475 students and an aging structure, and VanWagoner said the school costs the district a lot in inefficiencies with heat. It was built in the 1950s, with additions completed in the 1960s and 1990s, according to the district’s website.

Property owners in the district are still paying down debt from the last major renovations, begun in the mid-1990s, when voters approved up to 2.98 mills to repay bonds.

That tax expires in 2021.

The current proposal is “very, very similar to the request that was made by the board 20-plus years ago, when they built Thunder Bay (Junior High) and Lincoln” Elementary, VanWagoner said Monday.

Monday’s decision follows months of discussion by the board and district leaders.

The district formed a Facility Study Committee — made up of parents, teachers and others — that helped prioritize building needs. A survey of that committee showed participants were willing to pay higher taxes to upgrade the schools.

Justin A. Hinkley can be reached at 989-358-5686 or jhinkley@thealpenanews.com. Follow him on Twitter @JustinHinkley.