File photo Ontonagon Area School District is seeking to renew the sinking fund millage at 1.2750 mills, which would run from 2027 until 2036, in order to repair and maintain school district facilities. The millage is up for renewal in May. 

ONTONAGON — The Ontonagon Area School District is seeking a renewal on its sinking fund millage in the upcoming May election. The millage will run for 10 years, from 2027 until 2036 and is a renewal of the current milage rate of 1.2750 mills ($1.2750 on each of $1,000 of taxable valuation.)

There is an informational meeting on the millage renewal today starting at 5:00 p.m. in the school district library at 701 Parker Ave in Ontonagon.

A sinking fund millage is primarily used for funding repair and construction projects. An informational guide found on the Ontonagon Area School District’s website describes it as a “pay as you go” method of collecting revenue for as-needed building upgrades.

According to the informational guide, the school district is allowed to spend the funds on building upgrades and repair items to maintain facilities. The school district said the revenue collected through the millage will be over $290,000, if it is approved.

OASD is not allowed to spend the funds on employee salaries, benefits, textbooks for students, furniture or purchases of land. The school is subject to facility audits from the State of Michigan in order to make sure the funding is allocated appropriately.

Ontonagon Area School District Superintendent, Lisa Johnson, said the school district uses the sinking fund to improve the quality and functionality of its many facilities students use.

“We’ve done a lot of different projects to continue to make sure our facilities are in good working condition,” she said. “Things like we’ve remodeled our locker rooms, we’ve done blacktop, we laid a new track, we put a new cafeteria floor down, repaired our boiler… just the basic maintenance of upkeep.”

In order for projects to be proposed, worked on and completed, Johnson said the school district collaborates with the Ontonagon Board of Education on what needs to be done to improve the schools.

“We look at our building needs and we [do] a facilities audit of what the needs are,” she said. “We work to prioritize what those needs are to decide what’s moving forward.”

According to the guide, the upcoming projects the school district is planning on using the fund for include replacing windows and exterior doors, updating science labs, creating safe and secure entrances, gym and parking lot resurfacing and a new fire protection system.

The guide also says the school district, in collaboration with a state audit of facilities, “has identified over [$1M] worth of projects over the next ten years that would improve school safety.”

The current school district building — which houses the entirety of the Ontonagon student population — was constructed in 1967. Johnson said these upgrades are necessary to keep the building properly maintained.

“Our school is 60 some years old,” she said. “So, it’s just the basic renewal of things that get to end of life that we need to continue to update within our building.”