UPDATED Oct. 31, 2 p.m. This story has been updated to clarify the cost of the proposed millage, which would add an extra $480 to the property tax bill on a home with a state equalized value of $100,000. State equalized value is 50 percent of the market value of a property.
On election day, Mesick residents will vote on a $14 million school bond. This will be the third time the bond proposal has gone before voters. It was rejected in 2017 and then again in May, when it failed by only 10 votes.
District officials hope this time around, more people will turn out to vote for the bond. Superintendent Scott Akom says most of the money would go toward building a new elementary school wing onto the high school.
“The plan is to move our kindergarten through fifth grade students up to the high school, building on two small wings, so we can have a K-5 section of the building and a 6-12 section of the building,” says Akom. “This will allow us to kind of right-size the district. Right now, we have too much space in the elementary school but we’re maintaining that space.”
Akom says the plan will make the school district more efficient and will save money in the long run.
The bond money would also pay for a new roof, flooring and lockers at the high school. It would add an extra $480 a year for a home with a state equalized value of $100,000.
If the bond passes, the project could be finished by 2020.
In Kalkaska County, Forest Area Community Schools is asking for a $4 million bond to pay for remodeling and new school buses.