Tecumseh schools to ask voters to approve millage for pool building repairs

TECUMSEH — Voters in the Tecumseh school district will be asked in August whether to enact a new property tax to fund repairs to the community pool building.

After discussing whether to ask for a millage specifically for the pool repairs, a sinking fund millage that could be used on any building repairs or both and whether to put the questions on the August or November ballot, the Tecumseh Board of Education on Monday voted 6-0 to put a request on the August ballot for a 10-year, 0.4-mill levy to pay just for the $2.5 million pool building repair project. Board members said an online survey the district conducted over the past two weeks showed there was strong support for repairing the pool while support for a sinking fund millage was about 50/50.

If approved, the owner of property with a taxable value of $100,000 would pay $40 a year on this tax.

Trustee Jacob Martinez was absent.

Last fall, the board closed the Tecumseh Memorial Community Pool, which is at the north end of the middle school, for about two months after corrosion was found on the steel roof structure. The stability of the building's north wall also was a concern. The district had asked engineers to look at the roof to see if it could bear the weight of new dehumidification equipment for the pool. After examining the structure more closely, the engineers told the board the pool could reopen but that it would need repairs in the next few years.

Two weeks ago, the district's operations director, Joshua Mattison, presented the board with a three-phase plan to repair the building. The first phase would begin at the end of the 2024-25 school year, cost about $370,000 and require closing the pool for about 12 weeks. It would involve draining the pool; removing the soffit, drop ceiling and ductwork along the north wall; cleaning and repairing the steel roof structure where it meets the block wall; replacing the ductwork and drop ceiling; and cleaning and refilling the pool. If the work started June 1, 2025, it would be completed around Sept. 1.

Phases 2 and 3 combined would take about six months to complete in 2026. Phase 2 would cost about $1.1 million and would involve draining the pool; removing all of the drop ceiling; sandblasting, sealing and coating the steel roof framing; and replacing the dehumidification system and remaining ductwork. Phase 3 would cost about $750,000 and involve replacing the steel roof decking, insulation and roof materials.

With a 10% contingency fund, the total project cost is about $2.5 million.

Some board members supported asking for a 1-mill sinking fund millage, saying it was more financially responsible. Others, though supportive of the concept of a sinking fund, expressed concerns about the district's ability to pass a larger millage, considering that the district's last two millage requests for building projects had been turned down, including proposals that would not have increased the district's overall millage rate by extending taxes that were already on the books.

A sinking fund is paid for with a millage and can only be used for building maintenance projects. Some school districts in Lenawee County have sinking funds, including Clinton and Britton Deerfield, which each levy about 2 mills a year. A sinking fund millage has to be renewed periodically, much like a district's nonhomestead operating millage.

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A sinking fund is a good deal for taxpayers because it can only be used for building repairs and would help the district get on top of maintenance matters that it has not done a good job of addressing for the past 25 years, trustee Greg Lewis said.

There isn't anyone on the board who doesn't like the idea of a sinking fund, board president Tony Rebottaro said, but the community support for a sinking fund is mixed and the district needs to fix the pool.

The board hasn't done a good job of explaining its building needs in recent bond proposals, Rebottaro said, but they have explained the problems with the pool and the community is showing support for fixing it.

If the pool millage is passed and the project is completed successfully, the board could then ask voters to approve a sinking fund, Rebottaro and board vice president Lynne Davis said.

Board treasurer Tim Simpson proposed putting two questions on the November ballot: the 0.4-mill proposal for the pool and a 1-mill proposal for a sinking fund, which he said the community would support. Scheduling the vote for November would give the board time to explain the need for a sinking fund, he said.

Other board members rejected putting any proposals on the November ballot because they wanted to get started on the project and they didn't want them getting lost among the many other offices that are on the ballot this year. Six of the seven school board positions will be on the ballot along with the presidency, all of the township offices, state legislators, U.S. House and Senate positions, and other county and statewide positions.

— Contact reporter David Panian at dpanian@lenconnect.com or follow him on X, formerly Twitter: @lenaweepanian.

This article originally appeared on The Daily Telegram: Tecumseh schools to seek pool building repair millage