County voters to decide five-year special education renewal
Voters in all three Presque Isle County school districts will be asked to renew a Cheboygan-Otsego-Presque Isle Educational Service District (COP ESD) special education millage. The COP ESD renewal was first approved in 2001 for five years. This millage levies .6426 mills. The funds are used to offset the costs of mandated special education programming. The COP ESD special education millage covers every school district in Cheboygan, Otsego, and Presque Isle counties. The voter counts from all three counties will determine if the millage passes or fails.
School officials in the county were emphasizing that this election is a renewal of the millage collected for the past five years. The ballot will read ?an increase of .6426 mills.? Since the millage has passed it has raised $1.8 million dollars for special education students in the COP ESD. The only reason the ballot must say ?increase? is because the millage must be renewed every five years and at the end of each renewal period, the millage is considered zero. By law the monies received can only be spent for special education services.
Polls for Tuesday?s election will be open from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. Voters will cast ballots at the Grambau Center in Rogers City and the Community Center in Posen.