Holland voters approved a ballot measure Nov. 4 that city officials have called “vital” for the funding of future services.
A request to increase the city’s maximum allowed millage by 3.052 mills, returning to the 17.5-mill amount outlined in the city charter, was approved with 55.8% of the vote, according to unofficial tallies. It received 3,505 votes in support and 2,779, or 44.2%, in opposition.
Although the successful measure increases the maximum millage, it doesn’t automatically increase the actual levied rate. Officials have maintained they have no intention of increasing the 13.8692-mill rate Holland has levied each year since 2012. One mill is equal to $1 per $1,000 of taxable value on a property.
The recent approval protects the city from rollbacks under the Headlee Amendment — a state provision that automates millage rollbacks when property values rise faster than the rate of inflation — dropping the maximum allowed levy below 13.8692. Over the years, the municipality’s charter millage has been reduced from a maximum of 17.5 mills to a maximum of 14.448 mills.
The millage funds municipal operations and services, including police, fire, parks and recreation, and more.
Holland City Manager Keith Van Beek said officials are thankful for the community’s support.
“We are very pleased and thankful to the citizens for their support … and by extension for their support of the services provided by the city and our employees,” Van Beek wrote in an email to The Sentinel. “It was a complex ballot question, but the outcome will allow us to maintain our current millage rate and level of services provided to citizens into the future.”
— Contact reporter Mitchell Boatman at mboatman@hollandsentinel.com.
This article originally appeared on The Holland Sentinel: Holland voters approve Headlee Amendment override, securing ‘vital’ future funding
Reporting by Mitchell Boatman, Holland Sentinel / The Holland Sentinel
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