See exactly what your ballot will look like if you live in the Township or if you live in the City.

The PARC question will be the last item on the back of your ballot.

PARA (the Plymouth Area Recreation Authority) is a brand-new public body created by the city and township for the specific purpose of overseeing the public vote about PARC. Such a body had to be created to allow the city and township to levy a millage together.

PARA is similar to the joint city/township authority that oversees the Plymouth District Library. Right now, it has seven members, four appointed by the township and three appointed by the city. The board is meeting periodically and anyone can attend; dates and times are posted at City Hall and Township Hall.

• The PARC property will have a stable and financially secure future, with better facilities for all.
• PARA will take ownership of the 16.5-acre complex that was once Central Middle School, including the building, fields and parking lot. (The current owner who bought the property from the school district in 2015 with their own money will donate the property to PARA.)
• Each property owner in the city and township will contribute toward the fund to renovate, improve and expand PARC, through an adjustment to their annual tax payment.
• The amount will be about $100 a year, for 20 years, for the average property owner.
• PARA will receive the funds and oversee all improvements to the site and existing buildings, and the construction of the new performing arts center.
• The PARA will likely contract with the nonprofit PARC organization, which has operated the facility for three years, to continue operating it. Once the performing arts center is built, the PARC organization will likely operate it too. However, these contracts are up to the PARA board to decide.
• PARA's board is currently appointed, but beginning in the year 2020 voters will elect its members.
• The PARA board can decide whether PARC should continue operating the facilities or be replaced if the PARC nonprofit doesn't meet agreed-upon performance criteria.

• The future of the PARC property and operation, and all the community services, events and programs that happen there, is in question.
• The current owner will determine if it wants to sell the property on the open market. If this happens, the facility will likely be developed for other uses.
• If the owner donates the property to the PARC organization, it will take millions in donations every year to keep the facility running and make the minimal investment in the aging former school building.
• If these dollars cannot be raised, the property could be sold on the open market.
• PARA would dissolve. Any future millage proposal would require the city and township to form a new authority.
• The Plymouth community would likely lose the chance to preserve the historic school building, to continue using it as a centrally located arts and recreation facility, and to have a new performing arts center.