Trending
IRON MOUNTAIN -- Millage renewals for Dickinson County roads and the Norway-Vulcan Senior Citizens Center are on Aug. 4 primary election ballots, along with a joint millage in Breen, Felch and West Branch townships for Nordic Ambulance.
Sagola Township, meanwhile, seeks the renewal of millages for fire and ambulance protection.
The proposed county-wide road millage is 0.5 mills, or 50 cents per $1,000 of taxable value, renewed for five years. It would raise an estimated $587,037 in 2027.
Funds from the levy are used by the Dickinson County Road Commission for local road projects in the county's seven townships. The portion generated from each of the county's three cities is sent directly to the cities for their street needs.
A five-year road millage renewal was approved in 2020 by a vote of 3,476 yes to 1,820 no. It didn't take effect until 2022, however, as it was placed on the ballot early because there were no county elections scheduled for 2021.
The proposed Norway-Vulcan senior millage is 0.5 mills, or 50 cents per $1,000 of taxable value, for four years. In 2027, it would raise an estimated $38,738 in Norway Township, $32,818 in Waucedah Township and $36,575 in the City of Norway for a total of $108,131.
The renewal will only take effect if all three municipalities approve it in support of Norway-Vulcan Senior Citizen Center Inc.
The millage to fund the Norway-Vulcan center's operation, maintenance, meals, activities and services was introduced in 2018 after the center broke away in 2016 from the Dickinson-Iron Community Services Agency. The center's allocation set by the Dickinson County Board this year from two county-wide senior millages is $50,000.
The Nordic Ambulance proposal comes from the Tri-Township Ambulance Authority. The proposed levy is 1 mill, or $1 per $1,000 of taxable value, for six years. The boards in Breen, Felch and West Branch townships have agreed that if the millage is approved, each of the three townships will no longer levy township ambulance millages of 0.5 mills, or 50 cents per $1,000 of taxable value.
Although the millage proposal appears on the ballot as an increase it is, in effect, a renewal. That's because the Tri-Township Ambulance Authority's current levy of 0.5 mills is expiring, along with each individual township’s 0.5-mill levy.
The replacement millage would raise an estimated $28,913 in Breen Township, $49,365 in Felch Township and $11,037 in West Branch Township, totaling $89,315 when first levied this year.
Proposed millage renewals in Sagola Township are 1 mill, or $1 per $1,000 of taxable value, for fire protection and 0.75 mills, or 75 cents per $1,000 of taxable value, for ambulance protection. Each renewal is for two years.
In 2027 the Sagola Township fire levy would raise an estimated $73,462, while the STAR ambulance levy would raise an estimated $55,097.
Early voting for all Dickinson County municipalities starts Saturday at Kingsford City Hall. Hours for the nine days of early voting are from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. through Sunday, Aug. 2.
On Election Day, Tuesday, Aug. 4, polls are open from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. at regular municipal voting sites.