VBT puts 6.5 mills for Public Safety on Nov. 8 ballot

At a special meeting at 4 p.m. Tuesday, Aug. 9, the Van Buren Township Board of Trustees voted 6-1 to put a 6.5 millage proposal for public safety on the Nov. 8 ballot. It would be for seven years, December 2017 through 2023 to replace the 4 mills that expires December 2016.
Trustee Brenda McClanahan, a retired officer from the Detroit Police Department, cast the only no vote. She said she voted no on the November 2015 proposal for 6.5 mills, as well, and that proposal was turned down by voters.
She said the board members are supposed to bring their knowledge and experience to the table to make decisions. She said the Van Buren Public Schools Board of Education, where she has served in the past, took a poll and listened to voters. That board reduced the Sinking Fund millage it was seeking from 1.3 to .5 mills, which the voters passed last November.
Trustee McClanahan, whose husband was a former VBT Public Safety Director, said she supports the police department, but objects to the way this proposal was presented.
“There is a contentious group of residents who do not support 6.5 mills and … the reality is we work for them,” McClanahan said, adding the board needs to show the public why they need the money.
Clerk Leon Wright spoke to the timing of the proposal and why the board needed a special meeting. He said the Primary Election was Tuesday and that’s when they looked at the dates. He said he asked Supervisor Linda Combs if she still wanted the public safety millage on the November ballot and she said she did. He told her they had a deadline coming up real soon. She asked when and he told her next week.
“We had to have a special board meeting to get it to the county on time,” Clerk Wright said.
He said the 6.5 mills will be dedicated to Public Safety and will relieve the money being spent on Public Safety in the general fund.
“We have to relieve the pressure on the general fund and this is one way to do it,” Clerk Wright said.
Three speakers opposed the proposal, saying the new millage will give the township more money to squander on frivolous items, like the new DPW trucks.
Paul White, former township supervisor who is a finalist for trustee, said the millage is dedicated to the Public Safety Department, but will that department get their budget increased by $2 million?
“If not, how do you propose that money to be spent?” White asked.
Clerk Wright said this Public Safety millage will relieve taking money from the general fund for public safety.
“We want to keep our township secure,” he said. “We have to relieve the pressure on the general fund and this is one way to do it.”
Kevin McNamara, who won the Democratic primary for supervisor, supported the 6.5 mills. He said VBT hasn’t used its landfill money the way it was supposed to be used to increase the quality of life in the township. Instead it was used to balance the budgets.
He said Canton, for example, used its landfill money to build a music theater, police buildings, and other amenities.
“This 2.5 mills is going to lighten the load on the landfill money,” McNamara said.
Supervisor Combs said more people vote in a Presidential election and so this will give more people a chance to make a decision on the millage.
“Yes, it frees up some money in the general fund, not necessarily for the Visteon bond, but our other responsibilities in the building, senior, and other departments,” she said. “We can’t continue on the back of the landfill.”
It was noted if the millage fails on Nov. 8, there were four more elections next year when it could be presented to voters.