DOWAGIAC — Local taxpayers will decide early next year whether or not to keep a major portion of the local school district’s funding intact.

The Dowagiac Union Schools Board of Education voted unanimously Monday to approve the placement of a renewal of the district’s 18-mill non-homestead assessment on the ballot of the May 8 election next spring. If approved by voters, the millage will be assessed beginning in January 2019 through 2023, and will provide funding for the district’s general operations.

The assessment, which Dowagiac Union Schools has had in place since the passage of Michigan Proposal A in 1994, was last approved by local voters in November 2013. As a non-homestead assessment, most voters will not be affected by the millage, said Union Schools Superintendent Paul Hartsig.

“The millage only affects second homes and businesses,” Hartsig said. “Local homeowners will pay nothing.”

If passed, property owners who are included in the assessment will pay $18 for every $1,000 of taxable value on their real estate. The 18-mill levy has been consistent since it was first passed by voters 23 years ago, Hartsig said.

In spite of the small impact it will have on the wallets of most residents, the millage plays a crucial role in helping fund the operation of the school district, Hartsig said. The assessment is expected to generate an annual amount of $5.2 million, which is around 24 percent of the district’s annual $22 million budget, Hartsig said.

The dollars will go toward covering the costs of everything from curriculum materials to bus maintenance to snow plowing, the superintendent said.

“If this millage does not get renewed, we would be losing $5 million in our budget,” he said. “There would have to be tremendous cuts to our programs and everything else across the board. It would really affect our kids.”

The district will release more information about the millage on its website and through its newsletters to parents in the weeks leading up to the May 8 election, Hartsig said.