MILFORD — Polls open at 7 a.m. Wednesday for Milford School District’s capital referendum, which, if passed, would mean the restoration and reopening of Milford Middle School on Lakeview Avenue.
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MILFORD — Polls open at 7 a.m. Wednesday for Milford School District’s capital referendum, which, if passed, would mean the restoration and reopening of Milford Middle School on Lakeview Avenue.
Voting ends at 8 p.m. at the four polling places: Benjamin Banneker and Lulu M. Ross elementary schools, Milford High School or Evelyn I. Morris Early Childhood Center.
Eligible voters must be residents of the school district who are U.S. citizens at least age 18. You do not need to be a registered voter to cast a vote in the referendum.
The estimated cost of the project is $57.3 million. The local share of the total cost is about $14.9 million, and, if approved, the district will leverage the state share of about $42.4 million.
When they head to the polls, voters will be deciding if the school district can increase the debt service portion of the tax rate to fund the reopening project. Due to a current bond obligation expiring in 2023, district taxpayers will see an initial decrease in that tax rate, even if the referendum is approved.
The debt service tax will increase in years two and three of the project, if approved, but then decline again over the remaining 20-year bond schedule.
According to the district's website, in reopening Milford Middle School, officials seek to alleviate pressure of growing enrollment in all its schools but most prominently on its secondary campus, which currently holds sixth through 12th grades at Milford Central Academy and Milford High School.
The reopened MMS would serve about 1,000 fifth and sixth grade students. Fifth-graders would be moved from the district’s three elementary schools to the revamped MMS, while sixth-graders would transfer from MCA.