Voters will be asked to renew 911 millage, school bond requests

BELLAIRE – Although voters in two local school districts will also be asked to approve school bonds, most Antrim County voters will have just one decision – a proposal to renew the county's 911 millage of 0.5 mills – to make when they head to the polls on Tuesday, May 2.

Initially approved by voters in 2000, a monthly surcharge added to telephone bills was shelved by voters in 2015 in favor of a half-mill tax on property owners when the growing number of cell phones using area codes from throughout the country made it impossible to continue funding the system with local telephone surcharges.

Both the monthly surcharges and the subsequent millage allowed for operations of the county's 911 dispatch center in Bellaire, as well as for purchases of equipment and gear needed to keep the center’s technology up to date.

If approved, the half-mill tax, which would cost taxpayers $100 a year for every $100,000 of taxable value, will raise approximately $837,070 in 2018, the first year of the six-year millage renewal.

Although concerns are high that voter turnout during the May 2 election – traditionally known as a school board election – will be very low with a lack of any other ballot issues in most of Antrim County's townships, the number of people heading to the polls may be bolstered by bond issues in the Elk Rapids and East Jordan school districts.

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