Leelanau Township residents will head to the polls next month to vote on two millages pertaining to the fire/emergency medical services (EMS) fund, as well as the general fund.
The renewal of extra voted millage for Leelanau Township’s fire/EMS fund will be renewed at 3.10 mills ($3.10 per $1,000 of taxable value) to be levied for a period of four years, 2024 through 2027 inclusive, for the purpose of equipping, operating and maintaining fire protection and emergency medical services including life support services. In the first year of the levy, it would raise an estimated $1,835,794.
Mike McMillan, Leelanau Township supervisor, said the renewal is a reduction from the previously voted millage of 3.55 mills, and will give taxpayers relief over the next four years.
“We’re in year two of our EMT contract, we just made a commitment and paid cash for a new fire truck, we looked at future expenditures for the next four years, and we feel very comfortable that we’ll be able to meet those requirements in the next four years at 3.1 mills while giving taxpayer relief of slightly over a million dollars,” McMillan said. “At the same time, we’ve built up a rainy day fund of $1.7 million, and that can only go towards EMS. We’ve over-taxed over the last 4-6 years, so we’re trying to right-size our millage to meet the budget needs… Even if there’s an unexpected shortfall, we can fall back to the rainy day fund. We’ve had many discussions and many meetings, so this should come as no surprise to anybody.”
Township residents will also decide on a renewal of extra voted millage for the Leelanau Township general fund. The millage would be renewed at 0.4828 ($0.4828 per $1,000 of taxable value) to be levied for a period of four years, 2024 through 2027 inclusive, for the purpose of operating the township’s airport, cemeteries, parks and recreation, planning and zoning administration, or other such lawful general fund services. In the first year of the levy, it would raise an estimated $276,396.
“We believe it’s the responsible thing to do to maintain the budget that we currently operate under and anticipate continued increases because of the real estate environment we’re in with property values continuing to go up and the result of uncapping of sales. It’s bringing in more tax revenue than we’ve ever seen,” McMillan explained. “We’re in good shape. We’re trying to anticipate what’s going to be required out of the general fund and we feel comfortable that the renewal will anticipate any future expenditures in the next four years.”
Earlier this year, the township board missed the deadline for filing with the county to get language for the two renewal millages on the August primary election ballot. In May, township trustee Gina Harder voted no for the original millage reduction of 3.0 mills, and cited concern at the time over the half mill difference compared to the previous 3.55 mills. McMillan responded to Harder’s concerns then, explaining that he anticipates the township to bring in more revenue as assessment tax rates continue to increase and with the reserve that they have. Additionally, McMillan said that it’s possible for future township board’s to make changes to the millage request if they ask for extra voted millage from voters in an off election year.
