By Robert Tomlinson
News Director
COLON — Colon Community Schools district voters will have their say on May 5 in whether a measure to pay for long-term building repairs and improvements can continue for the next eight years.
On the May 5 ballot, a sinking fund millage renewal proposal will be on the ballot in Colon Township, Leonidas Township and Nottawa Township, which would continue the 1.29-mill millage for the next eight years with no increase in the tax rate for anyone who owns property within the school district boundaries.
According to the text of the ballot proposal, if the millage is approved, it would generate approximately $328,989 in the first year, and would be used strictly for construction or repair of school buildings, for school security improvements, and for the acquisition or upgrading of technology. If not approved, the millage will expire with the 2026 tax levy.
“Just like your home, you have to continually reinvest to make sure that things are maintained, like roofs and boilers and parking lots and windows and doors and security, all the things that have to be kept up for your investment to be viable, and that’s what the sinking fund allows us to do,” Superintendent Rick Hilderley said.
The sinking fund has been in place since 2018, and has generated around $2 million over the last eight years to make capital improvements to their school buildings, according to the district. This includes annual maintenance on the parking lot, roof repairs, lighting upgrades, and fencing replacement, which comes out to roughly $65,000 per year, or about 22 percent of the sinking fund budget yearly.
Some of the other immediate needs that would be addressed by the sinking fund if it is renewed, Hilderley said, include safety and security upgrades, including replacing and upgrading security cameras to get rid of what he called “blind spots.” It also includes upgrading their technology infrastructure, such as switches and routers.
Other needs that the district is looking to address with the sinking fund include more thorough high school roof repairs, air conditioning for the high school band room, the addition of a storage barn, ventilation for the elementary school gym, exterior work for the elementary school, water filters for elementary school drinking fountains, a number of updates to the Leonidas School, and special education needs. The biggest-ticket item, at an estimated cost of $400,000, is a parking lot replacement at the district’s athletic fields.
Hilderley said the complete list of needs won’t all be done within the first year if the renewal passes, but they’ll be planned out over time with the money they get and save over the next several years.
“We’re kind of forecasting about three years out, and then we reassess to see if there’s things that need to be brought to the front of the list,” Hilderley said. “If a patch on a roof has to be made or something happens with an entryway door or things like that, the nice part about a sinking fund is that you can make those decisions over time.”
Over the last eight years, Hilderley said, the sinking fund has helped fund HVAC upgrades at the elementary and junior/senior high schools, new boilers, parking lot improvements, the addition of security cameras, and upgrades to the sound system in the main gymnasium.
The most important aspect of the sinking fund, Hilderley said, is that it helps the district not spend as much money from their general fund that is intended for educating students.
“What we’re doing is educating students, and when the community approved that first sinking fund, it was a great investment in not only our facilities, but in our students, because it allowed the district to allocate the money for those improvements using those tax dollars and not using the money that we get to educate kids,” Hilderley said.
When residents to go the ballot box next Tuesday, Hilderley said there’s quite a bit to consider when they make their decision on whether to vote “Yes” or “No.”
“I think the main thing to remember is that this is not a new tax. This is a renewal of something that has been going on for the last eight years,” Hilderley said. “We’re just asking for that support to continue to improve our facilities and support our students by making this investment.”
Robert Tomlinson can be reached at 279-7488 or robert@wilcoxnewspapers.com.
