Two millage proposals critical to the financial future of the Oxford school district were approved by voters in the Nov. 8 general election.

Based on the unofficial election results, the 10-year, 17.8078-mill non-homestead operating tax renewal was approved 7,989 to 4,467.

Voters also approved the 10-year, 0.1922-mill non-homestead operating tax increase. It won 6,953 to 5,440.

Those are the unofficial totals from Oxford, Addison, Brandon, Metamora, Dryden and Hadley townships, all of which are part of the school district.

“I am thrilled,” said Oxford Superintendent Tim Throne. “I am just overjoyed that Oxford continues to support the schools. We’re working to become better every day and this is just a great endorsement by the community to keep moving forward.”

Combined, the millages, which will be levied from 2017-26, are expected to generate more than $5 million per year for the district.

Had they failed, Oxford would have lost that revenue because the state assumes districts are levying the maximum 18 mills when it calculates the annual amount of per-pupil funding schools receive from Lansing.

Had Oxford lost that $5.2 million, the state would not have made up that revenue.

Throne is greatly relieved the district won’t be forced to make any massive budget cuts that would directly impact students in order to plug a significant hole in the budget.

“I’m real happy for the community,” he said.

Throne is extremely grateful for the efforts of the pro-millage committee Citizens for Oxford Community Schools, coordinated by Korey Bailey, Erica DiCosmo and Julie Fracker.

“I should definitely give some shout-outs to those people,” he said.

There was “definitely much more community engagement” than when the non-homestead millage failed 1,984 to 1,923 in the August election, the superintendent noted.

“I think we did a much better job at just informing the voters, getting them to understand what this millage is (and) what it isn’t,” he said.

Throne believes the higher voter-turnout also played a role in the millages’ passage.

In August, a total of 3,907 people voted on the non-homestead issue. In the general election, more than 12,000 people voted on the tax proposals.

“I think that certainly helped us as well,” he said.