MANISTIQUE — Schoolcraft County voters will be faced with two millages when they head to the polls Tuesday that will determine the future of the county’s jail.

First on the ballot is a bond proposal for the creation of a new jail. While the question may seem familiar to voters who weighed in on a similar proposal that was rejected in November of 2018, the project has been scaled back significantly and this year’s proposal relies heavily on the use of the existing jail site and portions of the current jail building.

“Even though extensive renovation of the existing facility will be required, the existing jail is structurally-sound and its location is advantageous relative to inmate movement to the courthouse,” the engineers and architects of Bryce & Associates, Inc. wrote in a feasibility study for the project published earlier this year.

The jail, which will have a reduced capacity compared to the 2018 proposal, will be able to hold about 40 inmate beds and 10 intake beds. It will feature a redesigned housing block with a control room that would allow staff to view all cell blocks and many other inmate areas with minimal movement. In addition, the second floor of the existing jail would be available for future inmate programming, mental heath programs, and sheriff’s office law enforcement space.

Reusing the existing jail took thousands of square feet of area off the initial 2018 plan, and brings the total square footage of the proposed jail to 17,453 feet. The project is anticipated to cost $12,833,800, with about $9.76 million of the total being construction costs.

Voters will be asked to approve a bond proposal that would authorize the county to borrow $9,990,000 and issue general obligation unlimited tax bonds for the purpose of constructing, remodeling, furnishing, and equipping the new jail — this includes parking, landscaping, access roadways — and paying the related capitalized interest.

The rate for the proposal will vary over the 30 years the millage is levied. In the first year levied, taxpayers would pay an estimated 1.1956 mills ($1.20 per $1,000 of taxable value). Over the course of the levy, the simple average annual millage would be 1.0493 mills ($1.05 per $1,000 of taxable value).

The second millage proposal is for the new jail’s operations. Voters will be asked to approve an increase of up to 1.5769 mills ($1.58 per $1,000 of taxable value) for a period of five years, 2021 to 2025, inclusive. If approved and levied in full, the millage would raise an estimated $597,352 in the first calendar year.