The Niles School District is seeking renewal of a 1.0 millage called the sinking fund that raises money for facility repair, construction and site acquisition.

Voters will decide Nov. 8 whether or not they want to renew the millage.

The millage comes at a time when Superintendent Dan Applegate said the costs of construction are high and the buildings in the district, most of which were built in the 1960s, need a plan in place for amending immediate needs.

The millage is not a tax increase and will cost property owners with a house of $150,000 about $75 per year. The sinking fund is projected to raise a half a million for schools.

Those funds will be able to cover the cost of  operational projects that the $40 million 2015 bond will not, Applegate said.

“We have a lot of needs for our old buildings,” Applegate said “We are able to do a lot with the bond, but not everything that needs to be done.”

Those projects include needed improvements to athletic fields, roof repair, repaving of parking lots, bleacher repair and traffic flow improvements at Howard/Ellis and Ring Lardner and heating and cooling improvements.

The millage on November’s ballot is set to be in place for 10 years. The district had a millage that was first passed in 2003 and again in 2008.

If the millage does not pass again, Applegate said it will mean trying to trim the budget elsewhere.

“We will have to make cuts out of our general funds,” he said. “That is what we use to bring technology to students, get curriculum to students. We will have to cut something in our operating expenses.”

The community has responded positively in the past and this year he said the response has been similar, Applegate said.

“The community understands this is what we need on a yearly basis to operate,” Applegate said.

Also on the schools budget agenda is continuing to improve security for students.  With money from the sinking fund, Applegate said they could make basic but important security investments, such as purchasing new window dressing for classrooms so that if there were a threat outside the students would be blocked from view.

There will be an informational meeting at  5 p.m. on Thursday, Oct. 27, at Westside, 511 Spruce St. The meeting will discuss how the sinking fund will be used and why it is important to the Niles School District.

“We are very appreciative of support the community is offering us,” Applegate said.  “We have a lot of great partnerships with what is going on in the community.”