The Milan News-Leader
A Heritage Newspaper
Weekly Publication
Voters to consider bond extension
District wants to add seven years to life of bond to do upgrades
By Lisa Allmendinger, Staff Writer
PUBLISHED: November 13, 2008
Milan School District will ask voters Feb. 24 to approve an extension of an 8.04-mill levy through 2037.
Advertisement
The current bond is set to begin decreasing in 2016 and would retire in 2030.
There would be no increase in the tax rate for homeowners. Property owners with a $200,000 home assessed at half currently pay about $800 per year.
"This is a need-based bond proposal to bring facilities up to a state that will meet our students' educational needs for the next seven to 12 years and beyond," Milan Public Schools Superintendent Bryan Girbach said Monday.
The Board of Education is expected to approve the proposed $49.2 million bond language at its Nov. 19 meeting.
"We are not asking for a tax rate increase," he said, rather an extension of the current tax rate.
According to information provided by the district, the money will be used to "provide equitable facilities and opportunities for all students ... and maximize use of the existing buildings and sites."
Among those improvements are new roofs for three of the four buildings, plumbing, electrical, windows, doors and floors, ceilings, heating and cooling systems.
Also included in the proposal are parking lot and sidewalk improvements, as well as traffic flow improvements, kitchen and athletic field upgrades.
The majority of the improvements are slated for the three older buildings, Symons Elementary School, Paddock Elementary School and the current middle school.
Technology, fine arts support and a new transportation building are also on the list of improvements.
Board of Education President Charles Bushart said Tuesday that the bond proposal had gone through a number of revisions.
Girbach likened it to what a homeowner has to do to maintain a home.
He said although the district's building maintenance program is first-rate, as facilities age, they require updates.
In August 2007, the district began conducting a facilities study to determine what was needed to upgrade the four schools in the district.
Symons Elementary School was built in 1969 and Paddock Elementary was built in 1957 with remodels in 1990.
The current middle school was built in 1957 with four additions, the last in 1997.
The majority of the improvements will take place at these three schools.
Milan High School was built in 2003 and a small addition is planned for the facility.
In November 2007, the district hired architectural firm Barton Malow and building company Faning Howey to help the district determine what upgrades were needed to the district's facilities. These two companies built the new high school.
The proposed bonds will be issued in two series. The first will total $34.96 million and a second totals $14.02 million.
This was done "to defer some of the borrowing in order to maximize the effectiveness of the bonds," Girbach said.
Not all stories are guaranteed to appear
online. The Web edition contains a reasonable
sampling of the print edition stories.
For the most complete news coverage, we invite you to
subscribe
to the print edition of the paper.
Expanded
Web
Coverage
Staff Blog, "Inside The Newsroom"
TOP JOBS
