EMERGENCY SERVICE FUNDING AT RISK IF MILLAGE LEVY DOES NOT PASS

By DEBRA HAIGHT
BCR Correspondent
ST. JOSEPH – Berrien County officials are working to get the word out about county millage renewals on the Aug. 6 ballot. Information on two of the three countywide millage renewals was presented at last week’s Berrien County Board of Commissioners meeting.
Berrien County voters will be asked to approve renewals of the 9-1-1, law enforcement/public safety millage and senior citizen centers millage levies. The Aug. 6 ballot looks to be a crowded one with people choosing between candidates vying for local, county and statewide offices as well as a variety of local and county proposals.
9-1-1 Director Caitlin Sampsell provided information on the 9-1-1 millage. If approved, it will raise $4.6 million in its first year to support 9-1-1 dispatch services in the county. Voters will be asked to renew the current .4495 mill for a six-year period.
Sampsell noted that the first 9-1-1 millage levy was approved in 1985 and was for .2 mill. The levy was raised to .25 mill in 1996 and then to the current level in 2012. The monies raised through the millage levy pay for the county’s two dispatch centers in Benton Harbor and Niles.
The two centers serve as backups for each other and dispatch all police, fire and emergency management services calls. “Dispatch gets people to the right location, regardless if the call comes in from a landline or a cellphone,” she said.
The millage levy provides most of the funding for Berrien County 9-1-1. Dispatch centers are also funded by state and local surcharges on devices, and they receive funding from grants. Sampsell noted that 9-1-1 service is mandated by the government and that they would go to local governments for funding if the millage does not pass.
If approved, the levy will cost the owner of a home with a $110,000 taxable value $49.45 annually.
Interim Berrien County Sheriff Chuck Heit gave similar information about the law enforcement/public safety millage. The levy is also a renewal, asking voters to approve a .3496 mill levy for six years to pay for law enforcement and public safety programs. It would raise $3.6 million in its first year.
Heit said the millage levy proceeds will pay for a variety of programs including drug enforcement, education and treatment services as well as other countywide services. With drug enforcement, he said the sheriff’s department with the Michigan State Police on the Southwest Enforcement Team to fight drug trafficking in the area.
Funds raised through the millage levy will also pay for other programs such as the operation of the drug lab, equipment, the county’s three K-9s and special teams for bombs, hazmat, diving and tactical response.
When asked what will happen if the levy doesn’t pass, Heit said the department would be in the hole by $3.6 million and would have to deal with that. He noted that there are services the department is required to provide such as operating the jail and answering calls in areas where no other department is available. If approved, the levy will cost the owner of a home with a $110,000 taxable value $38.50 annually.
Heit also addressed recent jury scam calls people are receiving, telling them they owe money or have warrants out for them. He said the county is not going to call people on these matters and will not ask them to pay in unusual ways such as cryptocurrency. He told people to be wary and be very careful as phone numbers and names can be easily spoofed.
Berrien County Administrator Brian Dissette said that information about these two millage renewals as well as the renewal of the senior citizens center millage will be available at county facilities, online and on social media.
The senior centers proposal asks people to renew the 0.2997 mill levy to support the senior centers in the county for the next four years. The levy would raise $3,086,200 in the first year. Dissette said people wanting to know more about the senior centers levy can contact their local center to get questions answered.
Dissette also answered questions from commissioners on why the county is asking for a renewal rather than an increase for the law enforcemen/public safety millage. He said that the August ballot is a crowded one with local municipalities having proposals for road millages and other services.
“If we get through this, the board can ponder what do in future,” he said. “The committee met multiple times and talked about need versus want and also the economy. Seeking a renewal made the most sense given the state of local economy and crowded ballot. The only thing that changed is going from four to six years.”
The county board meeting featured action on multiple items including acceptance of grants for the health and sheriff’s departments, a $50,000 settlement with the Point O’ Woods golf course over last year’s culvert collapse and authorizing an easement with SEMCO Energy on the county’s 500 Circle property in Buchanan.
An honorary resolution was presented to Peg Kohring Cichon who is retiring from the Berrien County Board of Health and the Board of Sewage Appeals after 15 years of service. Tributes to her came from County Clerk Sharon Tyler, Health Officer Guy Miller and Commissioners McKinley Elliott and Robert Harrison.
Elliott noted that Cichon has been an ardent supporter of land conservation efforts in many communities in the county and was instrumental in the area of land preservation to get the Bakertown Fen established in the Buchanan area.