Onaway, Alcona schools seek bonds on Nov. 7
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ALPENA -- Voters in Alcona Community Schools and Onaway Area Schools will on Nov. 7 decide bond proposals that would fund significant renovations to school buildings and raise property taxes in the school districts.
Onaway voters will decide two bond proposals: one that would allow the district to borrow about $11.6 million and another that would allow the district to borrow about $6 million. If both proposals pass, property taxes would rise by an estimated 1.34 mills to repay that debt, according to documents available on the district's website. That would cost the owner of a $100,000 house about $67 in additional taxes per year over the next 21 years.
In Alcona Community Schools, voters will weigh in on a $20 million bond proposal that would raise property taxes by an estimated 2.2 mills, costing the owner of a $100,000 house about $110 a year in new taxes over the next 20 years.
Voters will decide whether the districts can sell the bonds to raise money for the renovations, but will not vote on actual property tax rates, which can fluctuate from year to year based on taxable values and the districts' required bond payments.
Onaway Superintendent Mindy Horn did not respond to messages seeking comment for this story, but documents posted on the district's website say district officials "conducted a thorough facilities assessment" before crafting the bond proposals.
The $11.6 million proposal would allow the district to replace its aging heating and cooling system -- installed in the early 1960s -- in its school building.
Tests "showed a negative impact on the air quality in our classrooms," the documents posted online say.
The district also would repair site drainage issues at the school, improve the entrance to the school to make it more secure, renovate some classrooms, create spaces for career and technical education courses, including potential space for home economics, and improve the school playground.
If voters only OK'd only the $11.6 million proposal, taxes would rise by an estimated 0.12 mills over what Onaway property owners currently pay, costing the owner of a $100,000 house about $6 in new taxes per year.
The $6 million proposal would allow the district to build a new auxiliary gym primarily for elementary students and wrestling.
"Our elementary and secondary students are currently sharing gym space, with both groups using it at the same time throughout the day," the online documents say.
The district also would upgrade the school parking lot to improve traffic flow.
If voters OK'd only the $6 million proposal, property taxes would actually fall by 0.63 mills over what property owners currently pay, saving the owner of a $100,000 house about $32 a year.
Property owners in the district currently pay 1.85 mills toward about $1 million in existing bond debt, according to the documents posted on the district's website, but it appears that debt is about to be paid off, meaning that property tax would come off the rolls. Taxes would fall by about $93 a year for the owner of a $100,000 house if voters reject both proposals.
In Alcona, Superintendent Dan O'Connor said a majority of the money raised by the bond sale would renovate existing facilities within the district's elementary, middle/senior high school, and transportation buildings.
"Ninety percent of the bond proposal is fixing what we have," O'Connor said. "We completed a facility assessment nine months ago, and then worked with stakeholder groups and a community group of students and staff. We prioritized all the infrastructure pieces we wanted to fix."
Some of the funding, however, would go into the creation of new facilities, such as a multi-use educational/recreational facility at the elementary school and a livestock learning building for the agri-science program at the middle/high School.
At the elementary school, the district would renovate the entryway to make it more secure, replace the fire alarm system, replace the gym floor and cafeteria seating, and replace old boilers, among other improvements.
At the middle/high school, the district would update classrooms, remodel the woodshop, weight room, and science lab, invest in instructional technology, and replace the heating and cooling system, among other improvements.
At its transportation building, the district would rework plumbing, replace the entrance drive, and build a new fence, gates, and concrete parking pads for the buses, among other improvements.
Outdoors, the district would repair the bus parking lane, replace the parking lot, and improve the drainage around the building.
O'Connor said a big focus for him and his administration was collaboration and community feedback. He said he understands that the decision Nov. 7 won't be an easy one for some.
"We haven't had an active bond fund that was voted on since the late-90s," he said. "So this isn't something we take lightly and know that, you know, with inflation and cost of living, we know that everybody has their own personal circumstances, so our goal is not to be divisive."