Voters again reject Lamphere Schools bond proposal

MADISON HEIGHTS — For the second time this year, voters in the Lamphere Schools district rejected a bond proposal on Nov. 4, in a possible sign that taxpayers may be at their limit.

The final vote was 51.96% voting no (1,812 votes) and 48.04% voting yes (1,675 votes).

The proposal would have increased the school tax rate by 2.5 mills for the next 30 years, raising $47.4 million for a variety of building projects. The school district collects $1 for every $1,000 of a property’s taxable value, multiplied by the millage rate. As such, if the proposal passed, a home with a taxable value of $100,000 would’ve seen its taxes increase by $250.

But for the second time this year, the proposal was defeated, despite being roughly half the original price tag. The first bond was for $85 million during a special election in May that cost the district an estimated $35,000, according to the city clerk’s office at the time. Special elections generally have lower turnout but require extra work by the city to implement.

Among the projects planned for the bond were the replacement of outdated boilers and ventilation units for improved heating and cooling; security enhancements including updated fire alarms and improved secure entry points; and repairing and replacing aging, leaking roofs.

Other planned projects included updating outdated cabling and network systems for improved classroom instruction and communication, and site improvements such as concrete and asphalt repair, reconfigured parking lots and more efficient stormwater systems.

Items in the May proposal that were cut from the November proposal included the construction of an auxiliary gym, a 3D art studio, a robotics learning lab, theater improvements, new playground equipment, and synthetic turf for the baseball and softball infields.

Voters in the district last approved a bond proposal for building improvements nearly 30 years ago. The school district paid off that bond years early. It now remains to be seen what the district will do next.

“We have reached a point where the scope of work identified in the facilities assessment exceeds the amount that the sinking fund can cover,” said Superintendent Dale Steen in September, referring to a separate ongoing millage that covers smaller projects. “To address these critical improvements, a bond proposal is necessary.”

Steen did not answer a new request for comment by press time.

Following the results of the election, Mark Bliss, the mayor pro tem of Madison Heights and a resident of the Lamphere school district, said the proposal’s failure is not entirely surprising.

“In these tough times of hyperinflation that have made the price of groceries unaffordable for many — and with all of the economic uncertainty brought with this government shutdown — this proposal definitely faced a steep challenge,” Bliss said.

“The results certainly weren’t what they had hoped for, but Lamphere has faced its share of challenges in the past,” he said. “I’m confident this administration will once again be able to navigate through this uncertainty into the better times that are ahead of us as a school district, and as a community as a whole.”