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Ubly bond vote okayed
Officials in the Ubly Community Schools are hoping residents in their district are willing to give up one Big Mac a week - less than $60 annually -- to fund upgrades and repairs to the school building.
That's what officials estimate the owner of a home with a market value of roughly $100,000 would pay in taxes over the course of a year under a proposed bond issue that will go before voters in August.
The Ubly Board of Education recently approved the bond issue during a special meeting, according to school Supt. Ken Sweeney, who said school officials have already received tentative approval from the Michigan Department of Treasury and expect to finalize the paperwork during another special meeting slated for May 21 at 7 p.m.
The proposal asks residents to approve a tax levy of 1.17 mills for the next 15 years, with funds generated by the millage not to exceed $2,080,000.
The proposal stems from months of discussions among members of a subcommittee of the district's strategic planning committee, which was formed in August 2006 and is composed of 20 to 30 school officials and community members.
A year ago, officials were looking at possibly building some new classrooms in an effort to eliminate the need to continue renting the former St. John School for kindergarten classroom space. Other items on the "wish list" were a new media center, gymnasium and library improvements.
However, Sweeney said the scope of the project has since been revised with a strong emphasis on maintaining a building that was built in 1936.
"There's no building projects involved with it at all, just renovation and repair and upgrades," said Sweeney. The list of planned improvements include: roof repair/replacement, electrical upgrades, technology upgrades, a barrier-free entrance at the northeast entry of the school, replacement of several boilers in the heating and cooling plant, locker room upgrades, installation of energy efficient windows in 2 sections of the building (constructed in 1936 and 1967), lighting upgrades throughout the building, completion of a security system, parking lot repaving and lighting upgrades, and the purchase of 3 or 4 school buses over the next few years.
Although no time is a good time for another tax, Sweeney indicated the school district has some positive things going for it in terms of finances, including the fact that Ubly currently has no millage levy in place.
School officials a year ago retired a 1991 debt that started out at 3.4 mills and was less than 3 mills last year. Money from that levy was used for several improvements, including classrooms that replaced portable buildings, a pair of computer labs and a multipurpose room.
Another positive factor is that the Ubly Community Schools hasn't lost students at the rate that some neighboring districts have experienced, costing hundreds of thousands of dollars in per-pupil funding from the state. In fact, until this year, when the school saw an enrollment drop of 12 students, the district had lost no more than 6 students annually during the previous 10 or 12 years.
"We understand that times are tough now," Sweeney said. "But we think that this project...is pretty minimal (in cost). I don't see any frills in it.
"We've always tried to maintain our building the best we could, and that's pretty much what we're trying to do with this - maintain our facilities and make it another 50 years," he added.
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