County millage requests on ballot
County millage requests on ballot
By CHRISTOPHER DIEM Journal Staff Writer
Three millages — for a special unit of the sheriff’s office, central dispatch, and services to the aging — are all renewals of millages that were approved in 2000 and years prior, but will include increases due to Headlee rollbacks.
When a Headlee rollback occurs, taxable assessed property values in the area have risen by more than the rate of inflation. The millage rate is then decreased so that the amount is the same as if property values had risen with the rate of inflation.
County Proposal A, for continuing services to the aging, will restore .4474 mills approved by voters in 2000. The .4474 of a mill is 44.74 cents per $1,000 of taxable income. For a $100,000 home, $50,000 taxable value, this amounts to $22.37 a year.
The millage will be levied for six years, from 2006-2011. It is a renewal of a 0.4308 of a mill and an increase of .0166. The millage will raise about $711,154 in the first year.
In 2000, the ballot specifically named the Commission on Aging as the agency responsible for the funds generated by the millage. However, with the COA scheduled to become an advisory board, the county board broadened the ballot language to include senior services.
“The board’s intent was that the money will be going toward services, rather than one agency, including the services done by the senior centers,” County Administrator Steve Powers said.
Centers in Marquette, Forsyth, Ishpeming and Negaunee will receive funds as well as AMCAB’s Home Delivered Meal Program, Marquette Adult Day Services and other services.
County Proposal B, for Marquette County Search and Rescue and technical rescue unit programs, will restore the .1125 of a mill approved by voters in 2000 and add .04 of a mill for the Technical Rescue Unit 131.
The search and rescue millage proposal is .1125 of a mill or 11.25 cents per $1,000 of taxable value. For a $100,000 home, this amounts to $5.62 per year.
The millage requested for Rescue Unit 131 alone is .04 of a mill or .04 cents per $1,000 taxable value. For a $100,000 home, this amounts to $2 per year.
The millage would raise about $242.403 in the first year.
Search and Rescue has had two lieutenants retire over the last six years whose positions were not replaced and now road patrol Capt. Dave Lemire, with the Marquette County Sheriff’s Department, heads both Search and Rescue and Rescue Unit 131. Lemire’s position is funded by the general fund and is not affected by the millage.
Lemire said Search and Rescue is comprised of 25-30 volunteers, on-call 24 hours a day. They train twice a month and assist in searches for lost hunters, missing children and disoriented elderly people. The unit assisted with the Tower Lake Fire and the Silver Lake Basin flood.
“The money would go toward rescue equipment, personal protective gear, ropes, anything to do with search and rescue,” Lemire said.
The Michigan Department of Natural Resources pays for 75 percent of marine equipment for the agency and 85 percent of snowmobile equipment. The remaining amount would be paid for through the millage or the general fund, Lemire said.
Technical Rescue Unit 131 is a specialized rescue force made up of 15 on-call, part-time personnel. They are specially trained in vehicle extrication and provide support for every fire department in the county, sharing expenses with the Michigan State Police post. Since Sept. 11, 2001, the unit has also been training in hazardous materials decontamination.
County Proposal C, for Central Dispatch/enhanced 911 emergency telephone system, is .4970 of a mill or 49.70 cents per $1,000 of taxable value. For a $100,000 home this amounts to $24.85 per year. The millage will be a renewal of .4787 of a mill and an increase of 0.183 of a mill. The millage will raise about $760,906 in the first year.
“Proposal C is on the back of the ballot,” said Joe VanOosterhout, manager of Marquette County’s Central Dispatch, “Please flip the ballot over.”
Central dispatch employs eight full-time dispatchers, two part-time dispatchers, a supervisor who also works as a dispatcher and a manager.
VanOosterhout said his department uses Computer Aided Dispatch, digital mapping systems, digital recording systems and state and national computer systems to look up potentially wanted people, stolen vehicles and missing persons.
“The costs of the facility are kept at a minimum because we share the systems with the state police post and eight other counties,” VanOosterhout said.
Maintenance and utility costs are also kept low because Central Dispatch is located in the state police post. Central Dispatch’s budget averages more than $800,000 per year, some years significantly higher when capital improvements are made.
VanOosterhout said the future of Central Dispatch includes in-car computers and Automatic Vehicle Location so dispatch can track where patrol cars and ambulances are. In the distant future, VanOosterhout said Central Dispatch would be able to receive streaming video from cell phones and other devices.
VanOosterhout said some people have asked him why he is seeking a millage when there is a charge on their phone bills for 911 in Marquette County.
“It does say 911 for Marquette County, but we do not get any of that money, it all goes to the phone company. It has been 30 cents, and it dropped to 27 cents as of July 1,” he said.
The 911 charges on customers’ phone bill helps maintain the 911 database and provides for the 911 circuits as well as a 24 hour resolution center if the 911 network goes down.
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