FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

Many school districts in the State of Michigan typically seek approval for bond proposals every 5-10 years. This allows for significant improvements to occur and keep district facilities current. The last bond proposal brought to the Eau Claire Public Schools district voters was a successful election in 1999.

Through a recent strategic planning process, The Board of Education and district administration have identified a key goal to be that Eau Claire Public Schools will take pride and ownership of school facilities in order to provide a safe, appealing and welcoming environment to the community. Upgraded facilities that support education for our current and future students will be a major component in achieving this goal.

Due to the size and scale of school buildings, maintenance, updates, and replacement of facilities is costly and often times not possible through the traditional funding received by school districts. Our district has a number of growing needs that require large sums of money to undertake. A bond proposal is the best approach to making the significant updates and improvements needed at EPS.

Schools receive funding from a number of sources. A simple breakdown of the sources is as follows:

Foundation Per Pupil Allowance*

The State of Michigan provides a per pupil amount of funding to school districts. Currently the amount received per pupil is $9,608.

Operational Millage (Non-Homestead tax levy)*

This is a voter approved tax levy that provides operational funding to support the annual school budget. The current Non-Homestead levy in Eau Claire is 18 mills.

* Staff salaries and benefits account for approximately 80-85% of the use of Foundation and Operational Millage funding. The remainder of these funds are typically used for costs of educational programs, building operation costs and supplies. This leaves very little funding available for facilities improvements.

Voter Approved Sinking Funds

Voter approved sinking funds provide an annual collection of taxes based upon property values. Typically, the collection provides a smaller amount of funding that allow for minor facilities improvements and renovations. Sinking funds cannot be used for the purchase of buses or furniture. Eau Claire Public Schools currently does not levy a sinking fund.

Voter Approved Bond Funds

A bond is a state-approved borrowing process for a set scope of projects. When voters approve a bond proposal, the school district sells bonds in the authorized amount and uses the proceeds of the sale to pay for those projects identified in the bond proposal. Bond proposals are most useful when a district needs a large funding source for facility improvement projects.

In many ways, the bonding process is like a homeowner obtaining a mortgage and making payments over a period of years. The current levy for bond debt in the Eau Claire Public School District is 0.00 mills.

No. Bond proposal funds cannot be used for employee salaries. They also cannot be used for repair or maintenance costs or other operating expenses. Bond proposal funds must be used only for purposes specified in the ballot language, and as required by state law, they must be independently audited.

We appreciate the continued investment the community has made in our school district and have been mindful of minimizing our impact to taxpayers by keeping a reasonable levy compared to many surrounding districts.

One mill equates to 1/1000th ($1 per $1,000 of tax assessed value) of a property’s tax assessed value. Tax-assessed value is approximately ½ of the market value of a property. In the case of the proposed 2.80 mill levy, a sample calculation of the millage impact on a $200,000 market value home is as follows:

• $200,000 market value home = $100,000 tax assessed value

• $100,000 x .0028 = $280 per year or $23.33 per month

Homeowners can refer to their latest tax statement for their home’s tax assessed value

The 2024 tax rate of 2.80 mills was estimated to remain the same if the bond proposal was approved by voters on August 6th, 2024. Following the failure of that proposal, the tax rate reduced to 0.00 mills after the expiration of the previous bond debt. Feedback from the community and Board of Education suggested that the new proposal seeks to request a levy that is no greater than the levy in 2024. With the previous bond debt expiring, the current proposal legally is shown as an increase due to the current levy being 0.00 mills.

If approved, the ballot proposal would allow the district to sell bonds in the amount of $8.315 million with a 2.80-mill net increase over the current tax rate. The bond would not be responsible for changes in market conditions such as rising property values/assessments. The amount of tax paid could potentially change due to these variables that are not driven by the bond proposal tax impact.

The millage will impact all properties that you own that are located within the Eau Claire Public School District boundary.

Research shows that real estate values tend to be higher in communities with school district that offer quality educational programming and have up to date school facilities.