Voters are being asked to approve a renewal of .2273 mill and an increase of .7500 mill. The funds will be utilized to provide State and Federally mandated special education services to children with disabilities.  Funds will support equipment, facility upgrades and transportation for special education students ages 0-26 in local districts (Chippewa, Luce and Mackinac Counties).

The Eastern Upper Peninsula Intermediate School District (EUPISD) provides services to local districts at no cost for 14 categories of eligibility including: Autism Spectrum Disorder, Cognitive Impairment, Deaf-Blindness, Early Childhood Developmental Delay, Emotionally Impaired, Speech & Language Impairment. For example, the EUPISD provides braille and sign language instruction to local districts for students with hearing and visual impairments. The EUPISD also provides occupational, physical and speech therapies, as well as school psychology and social work services. 

Special education students - newborns, young children, school-age youngsters, and young adults - are all local school district residents. Some youth are served in their local school districts; others are served at the EUPISD Special Education Learning Center.

*For a home with a market value of $100,000 (taxable value of $50,000), the cost would be $4.07 per month ($48.87 annually).

*For a home with a market value of $150,000 (taxable value of $75,000), the cost would be $6.11 per month ($73.30 annually).

If the .9773 mill is not approved, the EUPISD will lose out on $17.36 million ($2.48 million annually) in special education revenue over the next 7 years.  Local district general education dollars will be used to help offset expenses for State and Federally mandated special education services.

Anyone who lives in the EUPISD service area, will be 18 years of age or older on Election Day, and is registered to vote on or before the date of the election, can vote. Absentee ballot applications will be available at the Clerk's Office in the city or township where you live on or after June 23. (Individuals can complete the application and vote in one stop. The whole process takes less than 5 minutes.)