PONTIAC, Mich. – The Pontiac School District needs $83 million, and Superintendent Kelley Williams said she hopes voters in the city will do something they haven't done in 24 years: pass a sinking fund millage for the schools on May 5.
Williams said the millage is a tax cut to homeowners because currently they're paying 3.87 mills and this sinking fund would only be 2.87-- or less than $12 a month on a $100,000 home.
"We need to do repairs so that students do not have to sit in classrooms that are cold when they should be warm and that our students are not sitting in overheated classrooms of 120 degrees," Williams said.
Besides heating and cooling, the sinking fund is going to address roofing issues and pipes that are 50 years old.
"We had a boiler reducer fail ... Entire school froze," said Robert Englund, facilities manager for the school district.
Williams is the district's fifth superintendent since 2011. Despite Pontiac being under state supervision, she feels the comeback is now.
"If you want to revitalize the community, it must start with the children first," she said.