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Planning For the Future

Looking to the future of Onekama Consolidated Schools, the Board of Education is asking the community to consider a bond proposal on the November 5, 2024 election ballot, for district-wide improvements to address identified and ongoing building, facility and site issues.

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If approved by voters, this bond proposal would generate $10,500,000 with no expected tax rate increase over the 2024 levy and would focus on:
- Improvements to safety and security
- Addressing campus-wide Infrastructure
- Upgrading learning environments and programs
- Athletic field improvements

What is the 2024 bond proposal?
A school bond election consists of permission to sell bonds that will be repaid through a millage (tax levy). The bond issue requested by OCS would be used to finance building projects or other capital projects. These measures are placed on the ballot by district school boards to be decided by the voting public.

The district has an opportunity to improve safety for our students and staff, update learning spaces, address aging building infrastructure and improve our athletic fields.
How can funds from a bond be spent?
Voter-approved bond funds can be spent on new construction, additions, remodeling, site improvements, athletic facilities, playgrounds, buses, furnishings, equipment, and other capital needs. Funds raised through the sale of bonds cannot be used on operational expenses such as employee salaries and benefits, school supplies, and textbooks. Bond funds must be kept separate from operating funds and expenditures must be audited by an independent auditing firm.
What to Expect on the Ballot
ONEKAMA CONSOLIDATED SCHOOLS BOND PROPOSAL

Shall Onekama Consolidated Schools, Manistee County, Michigan, borrow the sum of not to exceed Ten Million Five Hundred Thousand Dollars ($10,500,000) and issue its general obligation unlimited tax bonds therefor, in one or more series, for the purpose of:

erecting, furnishing and equipping an addition to the school building; remodeling, furnishing and refinishing and equipping and re-equipping the school building; purchasing school buses; and erecting, preparing, developing, improving and equipping playgrounds, athletic fields, facilities and structures and sites?
 
The following is for informational purposes only:

The estimated millage that will be levied for the proposed bonds in 2025 is .85 mill ($0.85 on each $1,000 of taxable valuation) for a 0 mill net increase over the prior year’s levy. The maximum number of years the bonds of any series may be outstanding, exclusive of any refunding, is sixteen (16) years. The estimated simple average annual millage anticipated to be required to retire this bond debt is 1.76 mills ($1.76 on each $1,000 of taxable valuation).

(Pursuant to State law, expenditure of bond proceeds must be audited and the proceeds cannot be used for repair or maintenance costs, teacher, administrator or employee salaries, or other operating expenses.)
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