MCBAIN — McBain schools is continuing its push to educate voters about their bond and sinking fund proposal.
The school is hosting an informational meeting on Monday, March 6. The meeting is taking place at the high school auditorium and will start at 6 p.m. McBain Schools Superintendent Scott Akom said they will be reviewing where polling stations will be in May, the proposals themselves, and what the school plans to do with the money from the bond and sinking fund.
“We want (voters) to be as educated about the proposals as they can be,” Akom said. “If they have questions that I don’t have the answers to, I will find the answers and reach out to them to get those answers to them.”
In January, the district approved the ballot language for its bond and sinking fund proposals.
The bond is set at 1 mill for eight years and the sinking fund is set at 3 mills for 10 years. The bond would be a loan and accumulate interest over time, while the sinking fund has no interest.
Akom said the school would collect money through the sinking fund millage revenue, which they can save up for projects or repairs. The district would then pay cash for whatever they need the money for rather than borrowing it.
The items are set to appear on the May 2023 ballot. Akom said if voters pass both proposals, taxes would increase by 4 mills. In the first year, he said the bond would collect $2.15 million and the sinking fund $932,000.
The purpose of the proposals is to address some school needs including busing, building repairs, and technology updates. Akom said they would look to purchase 10 new buses and replace the high school track with money from the bond. The money from the sinking fund would be used to repair the middle school gym, roofing repairs and technology upgrades.
Akom said the board is pretty set with what they plan to spend the money from the two proposals on. If something arises, he said they would be able to shift money to address the need.
“For example, if the roof goes south really quickly for some reason, we’d be able to shift something so we could address the roof right away,” he said.
There are restrictions on what the money from each proposal can be used for. For example, money from the bond can be used to purchase buses, but money from the sinking fund can’t be used.
Due to these limitations, Akom said the proposals will appear as two separate items on the ballot. Each proposal would address different school needs based on what is allowed.
“These are well-thought-out proposals,” Akom said. “We didn’t just come up with something. We looked at the needs of the school district, but also tried to really take into consideration the financial component for the community.”
Akom said the school is planning to hold other community meetings in April. Dates for these meetings haven’t been scheduled yet. He also said they hope to sit down with voters at local restaurants to discuss the proposals.
More information will be sent out through the postal service, email and on social media.