By Douglas P. Marsh
dmarsh@cherryroad.com

Animal control

Voters in Ogemaw County will see just one county-wide millage proposal on the ballot next month. For the Tuesday, Nov. 5, 2024 general election, Ogemaw County officials are asking voters to choose yes or no to a 0.2-mill levy for a period of two years to support an animal control program.

The amount estimated to be raised is over $200,000. On a property with a taxable value of $45,000, a 0.2-mill levy would amount to $9.

The county’s proposed animal control program involves employing an animal control officer and contracting with an animal shelter. The county sheriff’s department has been responding to animal-related calls on a basis of limited capacity since animal control officer Scott Friesorger resigned at the end of June.

Last month county commissioners approved a temporary contract with Rea Family Animal Shelter, which has been the county’s only provider of shelter services. The agreement lasts through the end of the year.

“Conditions will change depending on pass/fail, and so will our needs,” said a representative of the shelter in a letter to the board.

The exact wording of the millage proposal can be found at the end of this article.

Skidway Lake Library

Voters in Mills Township will be asked to decide yes or no to a 0.5-mill levy for a period of eight years to support operations at the Skidway Lake Library. Township officials and residents, including a group that has been attempting to organize support for the library, held numerous discussions over the summer.

Due to financial strain, lately the Skidway Lake Library has been open to the public from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Tuesdays only. Many Michigan libraries are dealing with decreases in penal fine revenues. The Skidway Lake Library also has faced unanticipated expenses in recent years. It is a part of Ogemaw District Library System (ODLS) along with the Rose City Library and the Prescott Library, which is in Richland Township.

At the township board’s meeting July 9, supervisor Dave Ryan presented options he received from legal counsel.

“There are really three options on this question,” he said. “Support the district library, the township starts its own library program, and the third option is there’s no library in Mills Township. The board needs to select a path.”

The board decided that evening to develop ballot and contract language to support an agreement with ODLS to last through the duration of the district’s current millage (which is not assessed on Mills Township properties) until 2031.

On a property with a taxable value of $35,000, a 0.5-mill levy would amount to $17.50. The tax is estimated to raise over $62,000 in the first year it would be assessed. The full text of the proposal can be found below.

ANIMAL CONTROL AND SHELTER SERVICES MILLAGE QUESTION

For the purpose of supporting funding for the County animal control program including sanitary, humane, efficient animal shelter services, and ordinance enforcement, shall the Constitutional limitation upon the total amount of taxes which may be assessed in one (1) year upon all property within the County of Ogemaw, Michigan be increased by up to 2/10 (0.20) of one (1) mill, $0.2 per thousand dollars of state taxable valuation, for a period of two (2) years (2024 -2025) inclusive? If approved and levied in full, this Millage will raise an estimated $206,734.60 in the first calendar year of the levy, based on state taxable valuation. If approved and levied, a portion of the millage may also be disbursed, in accordance with State law, to the Downtown Development Authorities of the City of West Branch and the Township of West Branch.

YES [ ] NO [ ]

MILLS TOWNSHIP PROPOSAL NO. 1
LIBRARY MILLAGE

This millage proposal would allow the Township of Mills to levy one half (.5) of one mill on taxable property in the Township of Mills for the purpose of funding a public library within the Township.

YES [ ] NO [ ]