Bond Levy - 

These are used to build, aka they are “brick and mortar" levies. Bond levies cannot be used to pay staff or utilities or any other operating expenses. They’re only used for site acquisition and building and can’t be used to operate anything. 

 

Emergency Levy - 

These are used to fund the day-to-day operations. They can be used for salaries, instructional supplies, textbooks, transportation costs, maintenance and upkeep, etc. They’re temporary and are voted in for a period between one and ten years. They’re also NOT millage based. Also known as "fixed cost" levies, they’re put on the ballot as a fixed amount of money.  Reassessments and new construction do not change how much money this levy will provide the schools. 

 

Operating Levy - 

These fund the day-to-day operations. It can be used for salaries, instructional supplies, textbooks, transportation costs, maintenance and upkeep, etc. They’re based on a millage rate, and not a flat amount like the Emergency Levy. The effective millage rate goes down as property values increase. They can be temporary or permanent.

 

There are multiple types of operating levies:

 

Replacement Levy - 

This removes an older levy from the books and replaces it with a new one. So the value of this levy would be the requested millage minus the current effective millage for the levy it would replace. For example, the 7.5 mil replacement levy that failed was replacing a 1.6 effective millage levy from 1981, which meant that the school would only be getting 5.9 new mils in taxes. 

 

Renewal Levy - 

Extends the duration of a temporary levy. The effective millage of a renewed levy will continue to decline. 

 

Additional Levy - 

Adds a brand new levy. The current 5.7 mil levy that is going to be on the ballot is an additional levy. 

 

Special Purpose or Permanent Improvement Levy - 

These are for a specified purpose like projects and equipment that have a useful life of five years or more. New roofs, renovations, and school busses are assets that fall into this category.