The ballot language for a city of Holland proposal in November is confusing — officials know that — but it’s also incredibly important.
In the simplest terms, the proposal is a proactive measure to protect the city from future millage reductions that would result in cuts to essential services, with no plans to change the actual levied tax rate, which has remained the same since 2012.
If the proposal passes, it would restore the city’s maximum levy amount to what’s outlined in the Holland City Charter. It would not, however, automatically raise the rate paid by residents to that maximum.
“This body doesn’t have any intention of raising the millage rate, barring some unforeseen circumstance,” Mayor Nathan Bocks said during a meeting in July. “That’s not what we’re asking for here.”
City Manager Keith Van Beek said he understands why citizens might think the ballot measure requests a tax increase based on the language, which he said takes a “doctorate” to understand without further context.
“Even though the ballot totally sounds like we’re (asking for an increase), we’re not,” he said. “We’re just looking to maintain what we’ve levied historically.”
According to charter, Holland can levy a maximum of 17.5 mills for a general operating tax, although the municipality has never levied that full amount, Van Beek said.
For the past 14 years, the city has levied 13.8692 mills. That funds city operations and services including police, fire, parks and recreation, and more. One mill is equal to $1 per $1,000 of taxable value on a property.
Over the years, the maximum allowable levy has been reduced to 14.448 mills through rollbacks under the Headlee Amendment, a provision in the state of Michigan that automates millage rollbacks when property values rise faster than the rate of inflation.
Although the allowed maximum millage is still higher than the historically levied rate, the city is nearing the “crossover point,” where rollbacks could reduce the millage under the typical 13.8692 rate.
“We don’t see any need to raise that (levy),” Bocks said in a recent city podcast. “All we’re saying is, don’t force that number to go less than 13.8, because … we’re going to have to cut services, and we don’t want to have to do that.”
Van Beek said this is “probably the most important” issue in most current officials’ careers.
“This, foundationally, is what provides us with the resources to do all those other things we do in the community,” he said, referencing more “flashy” projects like fire station renovations and the Holland Ice Park. “It’s very vital. If we’re not able to address this, the rate we’re able to levy … will, by process, go down. That means the services that we provide will have to go down, too.”
Van Beek said officials are addressing the problem before it reaches a “crisis” point.
“We haven’t waited until the last moment,” he said.
The city will hold an open house Oct. 21 to provide more information to residents. The event will begin with a short presentation, followed by a question and answer session.
Learn more at bit.ly/4o9H7sZ.
— Contact reporter Mitchell Boatman at mboatman@hollandsentinel.com.
This article originally appeared on The Holland Sentinel: Holland officials need ‘yes’ vote in November to maintain existing services
Reporting by Mitchell Boatman, Holland Sentinel / The Holland Sentinel
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