Traverse City Area Public Schools (TCAPS) officials aren't taking any chances on an upcoming millage renewal request after suffering two recent back-to-back bond failures at the polls.

On November 4, the district will request a renewal of its long-standing non-homestead operating millage, which has been in place since 1999 and must receive voter approval to extend another decade. Unlike TCAPS' two recent bond proposals -- both requests for homeowner tax funds for capital improvements -- the non-homestead millage is used for operational funding and is not levied against most taxpayers. Instead, the millage applies only to secondary homes and commercial properties, and comprises 36 percent – or $31 million – of the district's annual operating budget.

“It's not a tax increase, it's a renewal,” explains TCAPS Interim Superintendent Paul Soma. “Most people don't pay it, and those who do won't see any increase to their taxes.” Proposal A, which structures the state's complex education funding, requires districts to levy 18 mills in order to receive their full amount of per-pupil funding. TCAPS levies the required 18 mills, plus a voter-approved 1.0961 mill safeguard.

If a community opts not to support a non-homestead operating millage, the state does not make up the difference in funding – a key reason TCAPS officials are focused on educating residents about the request.

“I'm concerned because school finances are an extremely complicated issue, and we're coming off two failed bond proposals,” says TCAPS Board of Education President Kelly Hall. “The last election was a wake-up call...in light of our failures, we know it's really important to inform voters this is not a request to raise taxes, but to keep the (funding) status quo.”

Soma says one key lesson officials learned from the district's failed bond proposals is the importance of engaging area townships in election conversations. “On the last campaign, we had good support from the city and the [Old Mission] Peninsula, but the townships didn't support the proposal. We're going out now and meeting with the township boards and holding public informational sessions...to make sure we're finding the right avenues to get our message out. So far, there's been very good dialogue.”

Both Soma and Hall, who met last night with other board members to discuss TCAPS' public information campaign on the request, say the district is not taking anything for granted. Without the millage, TCAPS would be “extraordinarily crippled,” according to Hall.

“We could not operate in any semblance, form or function that anyone would expect of a public school district,” says Hall. “We'd have to take extraordinary measures to keep our doors open, if we could even do that.”

Agrees Soma: “If you suddenly didn't have $31 million to operate with, the list of really negative things that would occur would be quite long. The bottom line is...this is what's needed to run a public school system.”

Should voters defeat the request in November, Soma says the district would return to the issue on every possible ballot – including next year's February, May and August elections – to revisit the request.

“It appears from our initial informational sessions that people get it,” says Soma. “But we're going to do a lot more...we're not taking it lightly. We want to make sure (voters) understand this and aren't surprised by it.”