• The fund would replace old boilers with new ones at various schools

UPDATE: OKEMOS - The General Election is right around the corner, and one item on the ballot seems to be the center of attention at the Okemos Public Schools. For the last 20 years, Okemos voters have supported a Building and Site Sinking Fund for Okemos Public Schools. In 2002, a renewal of this millage was passed, and in order for the fund to remain in effect, voters will need to support it again in the upcoming election. Citizens Millage Committee member, and Okemos School District parent, Angie Wilson, says the millage can only be used to "make major upgrades and repairs to our school buildings and our infrastructure." She says it cannot, however, be used to pay for things such as salaries, textbooks, technology, or buses, for instance. Wilson says people can find what her committee has used the building and site sinking fund for in the past and what they plan on using it for in the future. Past sinking fund projects included everything from renovated parking lots to new roofing to upgraded heating and air conditioning systems. These projects took place in nearly every school in the district.
Future projects include all-new roofing at Hiawatha, a new boiler at Chippewa, new locker rooms at Kinawa, track resurfacing, new gym floors, and new athletic fields at nearly each school in the district, and much more. Wilson says the millage is a "renewal of the current rate, so it will not be a tax increase." If the renewal is passed, it will last for another ten years until voter support is needed again.


ORIGINAL STORY: OKEMOS - November 8th's election is around the corner, but have you studied up on the Sinking Fund Millage Renewal? Get the details on Monday's Meridian Magazine.