News Photo by Steve Schulwitz
Justin Sytek deposits his ballot into a tabulator after voting at the APlex on Tuesday.
ALPENA — While the financial situation for the Alpena County Library became clear after voters approved a property tax renewal on Tuesday, Alpena County’s finances remain murky after voters defeated a property tax proposal geared toward stabilizing the county budget, according to unofficial results Tuesday.
Voters’ decision ensures the library has the needed funds to remain open and continue to provide services for the next decade.
At the end of the night, preliminary vote totals showed the library millage passed 4,966 in favor of the renewal and 3,363 against.
Voters’ decision to deny the county’s tax hike, which county officials called the “Headlee rollup,” means commissioners will likely be forced to make drastics cuts to help overcome a budget shortfall that is expected to be well more than $1 million. The tax would have helped the county recoup revenue it loses each year in property taxes forfeited through a section of state law commonly referred to as the “Headlee rollback.”
The county’s proposed Headlee rollup failed 4,070 to 3,882, and it remained unclear late Tuesday whether the county will ask voters again in November.
A provision in the state constitution known as the Headlee Amendment automatically lowers local governments’ property tax rates — in what’s known as a “Headlee rollback” — if property values climb too fast, making it so property tax revenue growth cannot exceed the rate of inflation.
Governments can ask voters to override that automatic rollback so they can levy their full property tax rate.
The county sought a 0.7-mill increase, which would have helped the county recapture about $800,000 a year and cost the owner of a $100,000 house about $35 a year.
The library, meanwhile, decided to pursue a 10-year, 0.7462-mill renewal that will cost the owner of a $100,000 house about $37 a year.
If the tax renewal would have failed, library officials said they would have had only enough money in savings to keep the library open for about three months. After that, the library would have had to close indefinitely.
There was some doubt about the community’s support of the library in the months leading up to the election.
Some people in Alpena County opposed the location of some books in the children’s and teens’ sections of the library they deemed pornographic and pushed the library board to move the books to the adult section of the library or behind the library counter. Some residents threatened to vote against the library renewal if that issue wasn’t addressed.
The library and its supporters said doing so would violate the First Amendment rights of people who want the books.
Last month, county commissioners voted to begin the process of replacing all of the members of the library board.
Steve Schulwitz can be reached at 989-358-5689 or sschulwitz@thealpenanews.com. Follow him on Twitter @ss_alpenanews.com.
