CONCORD, MI -- To continue making improvements on its buildings, Concord Community Schools is asking voters to approve renewing its sinking fund.
The proposed five-year renewal is on the May 7 ballot. First approved in 2015, the levy on the current sinking fund will expire in December.
If renewed, the district will collect approximately $294,000 per year, Superintendent Dan Funston said. However, taxes won’t increase because the millage rate will remain at 1.97 mills.
Sinking fund money will go toward remodeling elementary school classrooms, improving the high school parking lot, replacing old flooring, bathroom renovations and eighth-grade locker replacements.
A sinking fund generates revenue, but is also restricted and can only be used for construction, renovation and repair - not salaries, benefits or even routine maintenance.
The Concord School Board committed to not ask for new school buildings but to improve the existing ones, Funston said.
“Michigan doesn’t provide money earmarked just for renovations," Funston said. "All of (the replacements) need sinking funds. Without it, we probably would have to stop making improvements.”
Since 2015, the school district has used sinking fund money for several projects, including roof repairs, Funston said. A new track and fencing was also installed, light bulbs were replaced with LED to save energy and the water main was replaced, he said.
“We don’t want new school buildings," Funston said. “We want to take care of what we have, and with older buildings, you have to put money into them to do that.”