Saugatuck Public Schools is asking voters on November 3 for permission to borrow up to $49,500,000, and the centerpiece is a community recreation center on the 50 acres the district owns off Wiley Road in Douglas. Potential amenities include a community fitness center, indoor basketball and pickleball courts, an indoor walking track and meeting rooms, with varsity baseball and softball fields, a community soccer field and outdoor pickleball courts. Final programming and design would come after voters approve it, and the center does not include a pool or an auditorium (district bond page). The district bought the land about a year ago with contingency money left over from its 2020 bond.
The district's case to the Saugatuck City Council in September was practical: limited fields keep teams stacked late into the evening, and the new space would get young athletes home sooner (council workshop packet). The district is considering tiered membership fees for residents and paid admission for visitors, and points to the rec centers in Byron Center and Whitehall as models (The Commercial Record).
The rest of the bond
A new early childhood center next to Douglas Elementary on Blue Star Highway would add classrooms for three-year-olds, with a proposed Montessori program, while four-year-olds stay at the current Trailblazer early childhood center. The high school auditorium would get new sound, lighting, technology and furnishings, and the bond also covers safety and technology upgrades, resurfacing the community tennis courts at the middle and high school, and high school parking lot improvements as needed. The district would buy a new bus and move the bus lot from Blue Star Highway to Wiley Road (district bond page).
What it costs
An existing school bond ends next year, and the new one is timed to take its place. The ballot language estimates a levy of 1.31 mills for the new bonds in 2027, with no net increase over the year before, and an average of 1.92 mills a year over repayment. The bonds could be issued in several series, each repaid over as long as 25 years. If the bond fails, the school debt rate goes down as the old bond retires. Superintendent Mark Neidlinger told the city council that Saugatuck has the second-lowest school tax levy in Ottawa and Allegan counties, behind Grand Haven.
The district's last bond, $35.6 million in 2020, passed 1,652 to 1,084 (Michigan Treasury) on its third try; the attempt before it lost by three votes (WWMT). The district holds information sessions at 6 p.m. on Tuesday, October 13, in the Saugatuck High School media center, 401 Elizabeth St., and Tuesday, October 27, in the Douglas Elementary media center, 261 W. Randolph St. (district bond page).
Saugatuck Township: roads and trails
Saugatuck Township asks voters to renew its road and infrastructure millage, now rolled back to 0.9204 mill, and restore it to 0.9967 mill for 2027 through 2031: about $100 a year per $100,000 of taxable value, about $8 more than now, and $564,270 in the first year (ballot language). The money can go to roads, sidewalks, bridges, drainage, trails and pedestrian safety. This year's township budget uses it, along with about $3.7 million in grants and reimbursements, for the north and south sections of the Blue Star Trail, the first phase of the Old Allegan path, a sidewalk on Clearbrook Drive, a township contribution to the Maple Street rebuild and repairs on 127th Avenue (adopted budget).
Fennville and the rest of the county
Every Allegan County voter sees a renewal of the Allegan Conservation District's 0.0943 mill through 2032, about $9 a year per $100,000 of taxable value, approved for the ballot 5-0 by county commissioners in July (WKZO). The district does forestry, invasive species and soil health work and lends tools and equipment (Allegan Conservation District). Voters in the Fennville school district also see two Allegan Area Educational Service Agency restorations, 0.1699 mill for special education and 0.0994 mill for career and technical education, which supports the county's Tech Center (county proposal list).
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.
Where to vote early
Early voting for Douglas, Saugatuck and Saugatuck Township runs October 24 to November 1, 8 a.m. to 4 p.m., at Douglas City Hall, 415 W. Wiley Rd., Suite 103. Fennville and the Clyde, Ganges, Lee and Manlius township voters go to Fennville City Hall, 125 S. Maple St., also 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. 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.
