Would extend time taxpayers help pay debt payments

By Joseph Goral

Staff Writer

jgoral@mihomepaper.com
LAKE ORION — The Lake Orion Community Schools superintendent’s cabinet recommended on April 9 a bond proposal for the November 2025 election, with the amount they are “leaning toward” being $294 million.
The board of education did not take action on the proposal, but Superintendent Heidi Mercer and others still explained details of the bond, plus impacts that not passing the bond could have on the district.
Why November 2025
Mercer said administration knew last year the district would need to pursue a bond soon, especially because LOCS was not able to complete every project from the 2018 bond due to rising costs and inflation.
The district’s current bond of $160 million, passed in 2018, is also entering into its final phase. Passing the bond in November would allow LOCS to move directly into their new bond without a gap between the bonds.
Plus, there being elections with items in May and November 2026, Mercer thinks adding a bond to these ballots would make it harder for voters to understand what is being asked, and means the district would need to compete with other items.
Why $294 million?
Although the amount of $294 million is “not set in stone,” Mercer said the cabinet is “leaning toward that way” because LOCS would be “in the same position but worse down the road” without addressing as many needs as possible, and because there are still unaddressed needs from the 2018 bond.
The 2018 bond addressed $160 million of the district’s $320 million worth of needs, she said. Seven years later, the district still has these unaddressed needs because LOCS did not go to the community for a tax rate increase, and because of additional needs identified since.
Mercer said her fear is that not going for $294 million would compound the issue of not being able to address each of LOCS’s needs because of what was not addressed in the 2018 bond, and because of the needs that have risen.
“I think it’s also important to note that through the needs assessment that was done, a lot more than $294 million (in needs) was identified,” Assistant Superintendent of Business and Finance Andrea Curtis said. “So, we actually did go through the list and cut that down to that amount.”
Mercer added the list could still be reduced.
A tax extension
If passed, the bond would come with a tax extension for taxpayers, not a rate increase. The district’s current debt mills are 7.491. Passing the bond would extend debt payments beyond 2039, which is currently the final year debt payments are scheduled to be paid. LOCS has had the current debt mills of 7.491 and debt payments since 2000.
“It’s your debt payments that are continuing out for a longer amount of time,” Curtis said. “So, say you have another bond and you sell (it) at 20 years. It just extends.”
LOCS currently has bonds it is paying debt on, and a bond debt schedule. For this bond, Curtis said the district would add more time to that schedule.
Board Vice President Heather Sinawi said she wants to examine every option “in every way possible” to help with economic tension families are feeling, whether that means reducing tax rates “when the 2018 bond falls off,” or something else to potentially provide relief.”
What if a bond does not pass?
Without a bond, Assistant Superintendent of Teaching and Learning Drew Towlerton said the district would need to make changes impacting classroom staffing and programming because LOCS would need to take funds from the general fund for building maintenance, like roofing and other needs.
One need Towlerton mentioned was technology. LOCS is a one-to-one device district, meaning each student is provided a personal device. Without a bond, he said refreshing and maintaining the devices would become “untenable.” Mercer said funding for technology would need to come out of the district’s general fund in absence of a bond, meaning they may need to make decisions on what does not receive funding.
Technology encompasses far more than just devices. According to Mercer, technology also includes the district’s safety equipment from alarms to panic buttons, smart boards, public address systems, sound systems in classrooms and more.
The next need Towlerton spoke of was programming. Social-emotional learning would need to be looked at for reduction without the bond, Lake Orion High School’s Career and Technical Education programming would diminish, high school course availability would shrink, elementary and middle specials would be “in jeopardy,” athletics and music opportunities may need to be reduced, there would be a reduction in field trips due to the cost of bussing and more.
Towlerton also mentioned enrollment. He said class sizes would grow with fewer staff members, and the district would lose the ability to spread students out for more individualized attention and staff support.
Curtis said planned top projects funded by the district’s sinking fund would change completely without a bond. These projects include addressing repairs based on the useful life of building and site work. This plan changes annually when new needs and priorities arise, she said.
“Our general fund cannot provide for all that we do today and for where we want to go without the sinking fund and a future bond,” Curtis said.
Without a sinking fund, the district would need to use its general fund for repairs.
Plus, Mercer said each aspect of the district the cabinet is reviewing has multiple funding sources, and they all go hand in hand. Enrollment impacts budget, budget impacts programming and facilities which impact the district’s achievement, Mercer said.
She also said the district cannot depend on state and federal dollars, adding the funds they do receive do not come close to covering inflation.
PHASES would also need to be moved to Scripps Middle School as opposed to being able to create “spaces that are specifically designed for their needs” at the CERC building, according to Mercer.
Board Secretary Susan Flaherty told the cabinet it would be helpful for the board to see a prioritized list of items with a dollar amount next to each item, and Treasurer Jake Singer said having a comprehensive plan, a footprint usage for example, would make it easier to “get on board.”
Trustee Scott Taylor brought up the idea of going for a bond covering just security and safety to reduce costs, then “if, all of a sudden, the political climate or whatever climate gets better over the next couple years” LOCS could go for other needs. He added his concern that having only one option “is not going to come out well” because of the dollar amount, and said the district was “okay” over a 25-year period when a bond was never passed.
Mercer responded, noting the zero-mill increase and said “these are the things we need to do” to continue to evolve, meet needs, compete with other communities and avoid losing ground. Earlier in the meeting, Mercer told Sinawi there are also items cabinet wants to continue to “be a destination district.”
LOCS plans to distribute a community survey this month. District administration will request support during the Board of Education’s next board meeting on April 23, at 6:30 p.m. at the Administration Building, 315 N. Lapeer St.