MARQUETTE — On Tuesday, Marquette residents will be voting on the Marquette Area Public Schools bond proposal, which is seeking $59.995 million, carrying an estimated tax impact of 1.55 mills, in order to address critical facility, safety, and learning�’environment needs across the district.

“The feedback has remained overall very positive,” said MAPS Superintendent Zack Sedgwick. “I have been especially encouraged by the students who have reached out to express how much they care about the future of their schools. Their passion reinforces why we are pursuing this — to ensure their learning environment is safe and functional for years to come.”

The bond addresses safety, aging infrastructure, and student programming, with improvements being made in every building in the district. For example, there are plans to renovate the second floor of Bothwell Middle School, add CTE spaces to Marquette Senior High School, and update heating and ventilation at Graveraet Elementary School, Sandy Knoll Elementary School, and Marquette Alternative High School. A full list of proposed updates and renovations is available on the District’s website.

“Every school in the district would benefit from the proposal, with investments tailored to each building’s highest�’priority needs as identified through the facilities studies and community input,” reads the bond information page on the MAPS website. “These improvements are designed not only to meet current instructional and safety standards but also to reduce long�’term operational costs and improve reliability across the district.”

With any project this costly, though, comes some amount of community questioning and concern.

“We understand that any request for tax dollars requires transparency and careful consideration,” said Sedgwick.

Some of those questions have been rooted in whether the amount requested is actually necessary.

“While our identified infrastructure needs actually exceed $100 million (as determined by two studies, including one from the State), we intentionally ‘sharpened our pencils’ and capped this proposal at just under $60 million, based on feedback we received from voters during our community-wide survey,” said Sedgwick. “We recognize the economic pressure on families and worked hard to bring forward a proposal that addresses the most urgent needs while remaining fiscally responsible.”

Other concerns revolve around if the district could pay for improvements in other ways.

“Some have asked why we can’t wait or use existing funds,” said Sedgwick. “The reality is that we do use district funds and, during my tenure, have spent roughly $3 million annually on infrastructure, despite our sinking fund raising closer to $1.3 million. Maintenance costs for a district our size (we have over 750,000 square feet of buildings, with an average age over 60 years) are significant. For example, our boilers currently run 10 months out of the year. Even with a successful bond, we will still have unfunded gaps in critical systems like HVAC, which is why we are also aggressively pursuing state grants (like the Section 12e infrastructure grant) to supplement local efforts.”

Other questions have related to why the district decided to hold the vote in May instead of November, or to how much the bond would cost their household specifically each year.

“We chose the May date because the timing is critical for our construction cycles,” said Sedgwick. “Delaying these repairs only increases the eventual cost of materials and labor, and more importantly, risks system failures that could disrupt the school year.”

“We encourage every resident to use the tax calculator on our website (https://www.mapsnet.org/o/maps/page/2026-bond-information),” said Sedgwick. “While many homes in Marquette are valued over $100,000, it’s important to remember that the millage is calculated on Taxable Value (which is typically about half of the market value), not the total market value of the home.”

Michigan is one of only twelve states which does not provide state funding for public school infrastructure, which is why schools must use local tax-payer dollars to cover it.

“I definitely advocated with our legislators that they need to help with school infrastructure,” said Sedgwick. “I believe there is some responsibility with our legislators as well, especially as they’ve just released a state-wide infrastructure study that told us we have over $100 million in need.”

Voting will be open from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. on Tuesday.

More information on the bond is available on the District website at http://mapsnet.org/page/2026-bond-information, or by calling the District at 906-225-4200 or emailing mapsinfo@mapsnet.org.

Information on how to vote is available at Michigan.gov/vote or by calling the Marquette County Clerk at 906-225-8330.

Annie Lippert can be reached at 906-228-2500, ext. 550. Her email address is alippert@miningjournal.net.