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LAPEER COUNTY Some voters in five Lapeer County townships will have a special bond proposition on their ballots Tuesday. The Mott Community College Bond Proposition will be, in part, decided by voters in portions of Elba, Hadley, Deerfield, Marathon and Oregon townships those voters who live within the LakeVille school district. Desiree Londrigan, director at Motts Lapeer Extension Center, said she hopes residents will vote in favor of the proposition, which is a renewal of the current millage rage. Mott College is the number one college destination for graduating students from all the high schools in the area, whether Genesee or Lapeer counties, Londrigan said. Also, those portions of Lapeer County voting on this proposal are within the MCC college district, giving their students in-district rates, which are less than half the rate of any other area college or university option. The bond proposition is a renewal of the current millage rate. Londrigan said voters have supported Mott Community College in the past, and hopes they will continue to do so especially in light of the fact that the bond proposition is a renewal, not an increase. If the proposition is passed, she said, taxpayers will not pay a higher rate. It will continue to be at the current rate. If it is approved, the funds raised through the millage will be restricted to capital improvements, not salaries or operational expenses. This strengthens the community asset that is MCC, Londrigan added. MCC students from Lapeer or elsewhere have the benefit of state-of-the-art
equipment, which properly prepares them to enter their career ready to go. While Mott Community College has recently made significant commitments to the Lapeer campus by purchasing its site in Lapeer and dedicating millions of dollars to improvements there, the funds from this millage will not be used at the Lapeer Extension Center. Lapeer County voters rejected a special millage district years ago to support Motts Lapeer campus, so it is only voters living inside the LakeVille school district that will have a say in and reap the benefits from the millage. That includes in district tuition rates and other benefits. Mott Community College has been rated one of the top ten best community colleges in America (out of 1,200), Londrigan said, and operates a University Center that allows students to go on to earn bachelor and master degrees without leaving the area. Voters in the five Lapeer County townships will cast their decision on Tuesday whether to continue supporting Mott. If passed, the sale of bonds will take place, with the maximum number of years each series of bonds may be outstanding set at 20 years. The estimated millage in the first year of the levy is 0.08 mills (equal to 8 cents per $1,000 of taxable property in the district) and the estimated annual millage required to retire the bonds is 0.25 mills (equal to 25 cents per $1,000 of taxable property in the district).