IRON MOUNTAIN — Funding requests for senior citizen programs in Dickinson County will be due Nov. 1 under a 2024 budget calendar set by the county board.

The board plans to meet Nov. 8 with representatives of the Dickinson-Iron Community Services Agency and area senior centers to determine the distribution of the county’s senior millage levy.

For 2023, the county distributed $464,000 in revenues from a county-wide levy of 0.3995 mills, or 40 cents per $1,000 of taxable value. Of that, $288,000 went to DISCA with the rest divided between five senior centers.

The board expects to finalize its overall 2024 county budget by Dec. 11, with a public hearing to be scheduled later that month.

In other action this week, the county board:

— Heard Controller Brian Bousley say Dickinson and many other counties in Michigan are facing new litigation over revenues received from the sale of tax-foreclosed properties. Under a 2020 Michigan Supreme Court ruling, counties can’t keep profits when properties are sold to recoup unpaid taxes. In a previous class action suit the counties were represented by Michigan Municipal Risk Management Authority counsel, but in this case they may have to pay jointly for a defense, Bousley said.

— Agreed to offer letters of support to DISCA’s Denim Heart food pantry and thrift store, Iron Mountain Senior Center and Imagination Factory Children’s Museum, all of which will seek Community Center Grant program funds through the Michigan Department of Labor and Economic Opportunity. Up to $60 million is available statewide, with maximum grants of $2.5 million, to expand programming or work on capital projects. The application deadline is Aug. 31.

— Will review its policy for posting committee vacancies. Currently, there is a mix of newspaper, website and courthouse postings.

— Heard Commissioner John Degenaer Jr. say he’s visiting county fairs across the U.P. and Dickinson “can be really proud of its top-of-the-line facilities” in Norway. Degenaer, who chairs the fair board, said he’s looking for ideas across the region to improve Dickinson’s fair. This year’s event is Aug. 31-Sept. 4.