Grand Haven Area Public Schools is asking voters on November 3 for permission to borrow up to $98,550,000 to renovate and expand three of its six elementary schools. Rosy Mound is at or near capacity and Peach Plains is getting close, the district says. Both, along with Ferry Elementary, would get air conditioning, electrical and plumbing upgrades, keyless entry, a more visible and secure main entrance, a gym addition and interior updates. Ferry and Rosy Mound would also add classrooms.
Technology, buses, instruments, playgrounds at Robinson and Lake Hills
The rest of the money replaces buses in phases, updates music instruments and equipment (some dating to the late 1960s), and pays for security systems, networks and devices. Playgrounds at Ferry, Lake Hills, Peach Plains, Robinson and Rosy Mound would be replaced or made accessible, according to the district's project list. The district's current estimate puts about $33.8 million into Ferry, $28.8 million into Rosy Mound, $28.6 million into Peach Plains, $1.8 million into playgrounds and site work at Robinson and Lake Hills, $3.5 million into technology, $1.3 million into buses and $600,000 into instruments. Construction is expected to run from 2028 to 2032.
What it costs
This is a new tax, which the district describes as an additional cost. The ballot language estimates an initial levy of 1.95 mills in 2027, or $195 for every $100,000 of taxable value that year, and an average of 1.15 mills a year over repayment. The bonds could be issued in several series, each repaid over as long as 25 years. The district puts the added cost at $25 to $30 a month for homes with taxable values between about $154,000 and $185,000. It is separate from the 0.696-mill sinking fund voters approved in 2024 for roofs, boilers and repairs.
A mill is $1 for every $1,000 of taxable value. Use the taxable value printed on your property tax notice, which can be substantially lower than half your home's market value.
A third bond attempt since 2023
Voters turned down a $155.8 million plan built around a new middle school in May 2023, 5,514 to 5,039 (WHTC), and two smaller bonds that November, $118.3 million and $28.7 million, with about 56 and 54 percent voting no (WOOD TV). This version leaves out the middle school. It is the first phase of a five-phase facilities plan, and the later phases have no price yet. The school board voted 7-0 in July to put it on the ballot after nearly two years of planning and community outreach (Ottawa News Network).
The district covers Grand Haven, Ferrysburg, Grand Haven Township and parts of the townships around them. Renters who live in the district vote on it too.
Ferrysburg: streets and petitions
Ferrysburg voters see three more questions. The street proposal renews the city's street millage, which state Headlee limits have rolled back to 1.4076 mills, and restores it to 1.5 mills for 2027 through 2031. It would raise about $435,000 in the first year, according to the county proposal list, and costs $150 a year per $100,000 of taxable value, about $9 more than now. Voters first approved it in November 2021. Together with other city funding, it has paid for work on Pine Street, West Spring Lake Road, Bayberry Drive, Dogwood Drive, Roosevelt Road and 168th Avenue, and the city lists Cherokee Drive, Mohawk Drive, Navaho Drive and Carlson Avenue among the streets the renewal would fix (city newsletter).
The other two questions change the city charter's rules for getting on the ballot. One lowers the signatures a council or mayoral candidate needs from between 15 and 30 to between 6 and 20. The other drops the requirement that the clerk write the ruling on each petition's validity on the face of the petition; the clerk still reviews every petition. In 2023 Ferrysburg's election commission threw out every council and mayor petition over a clerical error, and those races went write-in only (FOX 17). Voters rejected these same two changes in November 2024, when they were among nine charter amendments on one ballot (Grand Haven Tribune).
Where to vote early
Early voting for Grand Haven, Ferrysburg, Grand Haven Township, Spring Lake Township and Robinson Township runs October 24 to November 1, 8 a.m. to 4 p.m., at the Spring Lake Community Center, 15549 Cleveland St. Every Ottawa County voter also decides the Ottawa County parks increase. Your sample ballot at Michigan.gov/Vote shows exactly what is on yours, and the full lakeshore voting guide has dates, sites and the statewide races.
