Most buildings in the Lansing School District are old and in need of repair.

That was true in 2008, when News Ten toured Sexton High School, and it's true now. The only problem, the tab to fix everything in every building totals more than $40 million.

"You talk about roofs, you talk about boilers, we talk about the age of the lighting fixtures," Superintendent T.C. Wallace said.

But unfortunately repairing it all is out of reach for the school district.

"Because the state has cut back on our allotment so significantly, we just can't take it out of the general fund budget anymore," School Board President Jack Davis said.

So the district will be looking to you for help. The board unanimously approved the superintendent's measure Thursday to put a 1.5 mil, five-year property tax increase on November's ballot.

If passed, it would generate $4.3 million per year -- money that would go directly back into the infrastructure.

"We looked at a sinking fund which is less costly for the tax payer and allows you to pay as you go," Wallace said.

We asked the superintendent if you're already going for a tax increase, why not up the ante, and build a brand new high school? The idea's been on the table before, but he said there just isn't enough community support for that.

But he said a poll of residents taken last month, showed the community would support a sinking fund.

"The initial questions that were asked, showed there was support," Wallace said, "and when we told them what it was for, the support increased."

The mil increase would raise about $20 million dollars over five years. It would cost a person with a $100,000 home, about $75 per year.