Politics & Government

North Trenton Residents to Vote on Millage for Riverview Schools

A ballot proposal to be voted on Tuesday, Feb. 28 asks some Trenton residents to pay more in taxes to fix up Riverview schools.

Trenton voters living in the Riverview Public School District will head to the polls Tuesday to decide whether they want to pay more in taxes to update Riverview district buildings.

If passed, a 30-year, 7.32-mill bond is expected to generate about $43.3 million to update five district buildings including Riverview High School, Seitz Middle School and Forest, Huntington and Memorial elementary schools.

If approved, it will cost the average homeowner in North Trenton about $260 a year for 30 years, according to City Assessor John Dahlquist.

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Trenton residents living north of King Road and east of Fort Street are in the Riverview School District according to Joanie Barnett, the Trenton Assessor's Clerk.

Riverview Superintendent Russell Pickell said the buildings in his district need to be updated now.

Find out what's happening in Trenton Grosse Ilewith free, real-time updates from Patch.

"This is something that we need and we need it now," Pickell said. "The kindergarten class coming in are the class of 2025...and we will certainly not be able to meet the needs of the class of 2025."

He added it has been 20 years since the last bond proposal for Riverview schools and many of the updates made then are now obsolete and dated.

Some of the bond money would go to replace leaky roofs and update the district's technology for future students.

"Nothing lasts forever, and you have to reinvest in the community," Pickell said.

Trenton voters passed a similar bond issue for Trenton Public Schools in 2009.

Here is the official wording as it will appear on the ballot:

For voters registered in the Riverview Public School District:

Shall Riverview Community School District, Wayne County, Michigan, borrow the sum of not to exceed Forty Three Million Two Hundred Sixty Thousand Dollars ($43,260,000) and issue its general obligation unlimited tax bonds therefore, in one or more series, for the purpose of:

erecting, furnishing and equipping additions to the High School and Middle School; partially remodeling, furnishing and refurnishing, equipping and re-equipping the High School, Middle School and elementary schools; acquiring, installing and equipping educational technology for school facilities; constructing, equipping, developing and improving athletic facilities and playfields; constructing a storage building; and developing and improving sites?

[] YES [] NO

There are about 370 Trenton voters living in the Riverview School District. Those voters live in precinct 1 and will vote on Feb. 28 at Trenton City Hall.

If you're unsure which polling precinct you are assigned to, see the PDF under the photo above.


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