Alpena Public Schools’ renovations of the district’s aging facilities did not come easy.

First, the district sought permission from voters to sell $63 million in bonds — a figure probably closer to covering the schools’ true needs — to raise money for the renovations. That amount would have required property owners to pay an additional 1.9 mills (about $95 a year for the owner of a $100,000 house) in property tax to repay the debt over a few decades.

Voters overwhelmingly rejected that request in May 2019.

Despite the voters’ denial, the facility needs did not go away — temperamental furnaces, leaking roofs, outdated technology, and more.

So the district went back to voters, and in March 2020 got permission to sell $33.9 million in bonds.

Voters accepted the lower figure because it came, effectively, with no new taxes. The bonds are expected to need about 1.8 mills ($90 a year for the owner of a $100,000) to repay over several decades, but that’s the exact amount of tax that came off property owners’ bills because APS had paid off old debt.

Finally, on Monday, the APS school board moved its monthly meeting to Wilson Elementary school to show off the renovations there, News staff writer Steve Schulwitz reported in Tuesday’s paper. The district plans to host future meetings at other schools to show off the renovations to those facilities.

When a voter punches “yes” on a property tax proposal, he or she makes an investment in the community.

And, like any investor, he or she should see that investment pay off.

Based on the celebration from staff and students Schulwitz wrote about this week, APS investors got to see a good return.

Thanks go to every APS official and volunteer who helped usher the bond project through, to every voter who supported the district, and to the men and women who did the work making our schools safer and more reliable for generations of students.

(THE ALPENA NEWS)