By DEBRA HAIGHT
BCR Correspondent
ST. JOSEPH – With the deadline passing this week to put local and county proposals on the November ballot, people are getting a clearer idea of what the November ballot will look like. One of the latest proposals to get approval to be on the ballot is one for public safety in Berrien County.
Berrien County Commissioners debated the pros and cons of placing the public safety millage proposal on the ballot at their meeting last week. Although the vote wasn’t unanimous, a majority of commissioners agreed to place the proposal before voters.
Their action came after Berrien County Sheriff Paul Bailey and Undersheriff Chuck Heit outlined the need
for the millage increase at the board’s Committee of the Whole meeting earlier last Thursday. They proposed asking voters to repeal the current millage and approve one that is slightly higher.
The new millage request would add .1004 mill to the current .3496 public safety millage to make it .45 mill. The current millage was scheduled to run to 2024 and will still be in place if the new proposal fails.
If successful, the new, higher millage will run for five years which would make it be on the same cycle for approval as the 9-1-1, senior center and other county millages. The cost for the average home owner in the county-with a home having an average tax value of $96,000-will be $9.60 annually with the new millage, Heit said.
The current millage raises $3.1 million annually and the new millage would raise a total of nearly $4 million annually. Heit said the extra $890,873 will be used to hire four new deputies, additional special training, capital projects such as new equipment purchases and paying for other benefits.
He added that the four new deputies would be divided between north and south county. He said the average cost per deputy is $110,000. The rest of the extra money would be divided up with $50,000 going to special teams annual training and overtime, $250,000 for other benefits such as pensions and retiree health care.
Heit said $150,873 of the new millage funds would be earmarked for capital projects such as body cameras and mobile equipment.
Bailey told commissioners that the new deputies are needed to handle drug enforcement cases. He said the department originally had 10 deputies handling drug enforcement which then was reduced to eight and now to five. He said the number is now at five due to having to put more deputies in the south county to handle complaints there.
He also noted that the millage started in the 1980s as something strictly to fund drug enforcement but then was changed to be called “public safety” to help fund drug court costs.
The resolution to put the new public safety millage proposal on the November ballot passed on a 8-3 vote with Commissioner Mike Majerek absent. Those voting no were Commissioners Teri Freehling, James Martin and Ezra Scott.
Voting yes were Rayonte Bell, Jim Curran, Robert Harrison, Jon Hinkelman, McKinley Elliott, Dave Vollrath, Julie Wuerfel and Mamie Yarbrough.
The three commissioners voting no said they didn’t feel this was the right time to increase people’s taxes. Martin said he is concerned that some of the money will got to pay for sheriff department retirees’ medical insurance payments. “To me, that’s not public safety,” he said.
Scott noted that inflation is at record levels and property taxes are rising due to state actions. “I’m afraid foreclosures will go up, people are having trouble living paycheck to paycheck,” Scott said. “We have a large contingent of elderly on fixed incomes.”
Freehling also noted that taxes are already going up for residents in many parts of the county as local townships have approved their own fire, public safety and road millages.
Elliott said that while Bailey and Heit outlined what they’d like to see the extra tax revenue go to, the county board will have the final decision on how the money will be spent if residents approve the additional millage.
Also last week, commissioners approved giving $1,000 in pandemic hazard pay to all county employees and retirees who were working for the county during the pandemic. The hazard pay was approved in two resolutions: one for juvenile center employees and one for other county employees.
Elliott noted that those who have already received pandemic hazard pay such as sheriff’s department employees and other first responders will not be getting any additional bonus.
A proposal to open negotiations early with the union representing juvenile center workers was defeated on a 4-7 vote with only Elliott, Harrison, Martin and Yarbrough voting yes. That contract expires Dec. 31.
Those voting no expressed a number of concerns such as just getting the resolution the night before the meeting and the message starting negotiations early with one union group would send to other labor groups. They said approving the measure would “hand tie” the county staff.
County Administrator Brian Dissette reported that this week’s Committee of the Whole meeting will feature a presentation by Dr. Loren Hamel on the future of the juvenile center and the former Berrien General Hospital properties in Berrien Township. That meeting will be at 8:35 a.m. Aug. 18 at the county administration center. It is available via YouTube.
As for the entire ballot for the November election, people should check the Berrien County government website to see the candidate and proposal listing in coming weeks. Most candidate listings have been set after the Aug. 2 primary and the July 26 filing deadline for local school board and village races.
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.