MCE seeks Free Soil area support to help with bond debt.

MCE seeks Free Soil area support to help with bond debt.

#MasonCountyEducation

By Rob Alway, Editor-in-Chief.

FREE SOIL — Mason County Eastern Schools is seeking the assistance of voters in the former Free Soil School district to help pay off MCE’s debt. On Nov. 8 voters in the school district are being asked to uniformly spread the district’s bond debt equally throughout the district.The entire school district will decide on the millage.

In 2013, MCE annexed the former Free Soil school district. Following the annexation, the taxpayers within the former Free Soil district were given a three year relief/grace period, granted by Michigan law, on the outstanding bonded debt of MCE, which paid for the school’s buildings.

Currently the bond is 2.8 mills. If levied across the entire district, it will be reduced to 2.25 mills. This means a reduction in property taxes for the property owners in the previous MCE school district but an increase in taxes for the property owners in the former Free Soil district.

MCE Superintendent Paul Shoup attended the Free Soil Village Council meeting Monday night and explained the bond. He said the good news is that the bond will be paid in full in 2019 and the district has no current plans to request any more bonds. “Our buildings are in good shape and were built to accommodate more students,” Shoup said.