Marquette Area Public School District considering millage proposal

The Marquette Area Public School District is considering a millage proposal.  At a regularly scheduled meeting on Monday night, the school board approved a motion to have district lawyers draft a millage resolution.

The millage rate for the school district is almost 18 and a half mills through 2013.  If the millage expires, the district faces losing over 8 million dollars in revenue.

The school board was given four options for a resolution.  The board chose an option that would keep the same millage rate for the next 20 years, but also would have the possibility of increasing the millage.

The resolution would appear as one question on the ballot.  The school board wants taxpayers to understand that the special election will be held to renew the current millage rates, not increase them.  The money from the millage would be spent within operations of the district, not on new buildings.

The school board also suggested creating a public relations plan so the community would be more aware of the millage.

The special election would likely be in May, and the board would have until February 26th to adopt a resolution.