By Jared Field, Director of Communications

UPDATE: We’ve made it as simple as possible to calculate your cost for the 2019 School Bond. Simply click this link, enter your taxable value and hit enter.

One of the goals that formed the foundation of the 2019 Lapeer Community Schools Bond Proposal was made clear from the outset of the strategic planning process: Our students should have facilities to match the District’s world-class academic programs we offer. This was the consensus of every community engagement we hosted over the course of many months. Our students deserve the best and safest facilities our community can provide, and this proposal offers a vision of what that could look like:

• New, state of the art high school at the West Campus with Performing Arts Center (current high school was built in 1975).
• Additional security upgrades at all buildings
• Renovation of East Campus as Lapeer Elementary School (grades 1-4) with dedicated spaces for music, theater, art, STEM, robotics and a secured, state of the art park-style playground.
• Air-conditioned classrooms for all students and staff
• Renovation of the Bus Garage and 40 new buses to refresh our aging fleet
• District-wide technology upgrades

So how much will it cost? Maybe not as much as you think. Property taxes in Michigan are calculated by multiplying the taxable value of your property by the number of mills levied. So, in this case, the estimated cost of the bond proposal is 1.94 mills or, in plain English, that’s $1.94 for every $1,000 in taxable value.

To calculate your cost, simply find the taxable value on your property tax statement (if you do not have it, you can contact the assessor’s office of your city or township) and grab a calculator. You can also go online and download your taxable value information for free, here.

Reminder: Taxable value is never more than the assessed value of your home (which is determined to be 50% of market value, though many homes are worth much more than double their assessed value in today’s market).

This can be very confusing, so let’s just do some math on a few local example properties. First, a property belonging to one of our employees who lives in Elba Township. For reference, the market value of the property is estimated at $200,000:

• Taxable Value from Tax Year 2019: $45,978
• Calculation: Divide $45,978 by 1,000 and multiply that number by 1.94 (mills)
• $45,978/1,000 x 1.94 = $89.19
• To get the monthly cost, simply divide by 12. In this case, the cost would be $7.43 per month

The taxable value on this property is relatively low because the property owner has lived there since 1988, and taxable value can only increase year-to-year by 5 percent or the rate of inflation, whichever is lower.

Here’s an example of another property in Attica that was purchased most recently (2011) with an estimated market value of $163,000:

• Taxable Value from Tax Year 2019: $52,237
• Calculation: Divide $52,237 by 1,000 and multiply that number by 1.94 (mills)
• $52,237/1,000 x 1.94 = $101.33
• To get the monthly cost, simply divide by 12. In this case, the cost would be $8.44 per month

Finally, here’s an example of a home on a lake in Metamora Township that was purchased in 2000 with an estimated market value of $385,000:

• Taxable Value from Tax Year 2019: $131,042
• Calculation: Divide $131,042 by 1,000 and multiply that number by 1.94 (mills)
• $131,042/1,000 x 1.94 = $254.22
• To get the monthly cost, simply divide by 12. In this case, the cost would be $21.18 per month

The District currently levies 2.75 mills, which is the lowest millage rate in Lapeer County. If the bond passes, the rate would still be the second-lowest in the County.

For more information, check out this Key Takeaways document or visit LapeerSchools.org and click on the Bond Proposal graphic on the main page.