As a parent, it is common to ask your child how their day at school went. It is disheartening when the first thing they tell you is they had to sit next to the trash can because the roof was leaking. It is also not good to hear that the LOCS Board has to fund repairs like this by diverting money that Lansing sends to the district for instructional purposes.
The Board is trying to rectify this by giving voters the option of creating a sinking fund from which the monies raised can legally only be used for capital items like repairs and maintenance of buildings and grounds. This will allow the money sent by Lansing to be used for instructional purposes only. The great thing is that unlike a bond where some of the money goes to pay interest, 100% of the sinking fund money gets used directly on costs related to completing the projects.
Schools are the number one factor that drives the value of real estate in a community. If we do not properly maintain the buildings in which we have invested hundreds of millions of dollars, then our community will not look attractive to prospective buyers.
This means the sinking fund is just good economics. Why would we reject this concept to save a little money now when not passing it will reduce the value of our homes much more in the long run.
Please vote YES for the Lake Orion Building & Site Sinking Fund on August 2nd.
Jake Singer
Lake Orion resident