Ontonagon County residents to vote on millage proposals
Ontonagon County residents will have multiple millage proposals to consider on the Aug. 6 Primary ballot.
The first proposal, in no particular order, is a request to repeal and a replace an existing millage dedicated to funding ambulance services.
This proposal, if approved, will permit the Ontonagon County to fund all ambulance services provided by the county by repealing existing millage authorization of 1.25 mills, previously approved by the electors, which expires with the 2024 levy, and authorizing a single, new increased millage of 2.00 mills.
To repeal and replace the previous millage authorization of 1.25 mill, approved in 2020 for ambulance services, shall the limitation on the amount of taxes which may be imposed on taxable property in the County of Ontonagon, State of Michigan, be increased to 2.00 mills ($2.00 per $1,000 of taxable valve) for a period of four years, 2024 to 2027, inclusive, as new additional millage, for the purposes of providing funds for ambulance services provided for the County of Ontonagon. It is estimated that 2.00 mills would raise approximately $677,906.08 when first levied in 2024.
The closure of Ontonagon’s hospital and emergency department came in April 2024, after Asprius announced the closing in February. The nearest facility from Ontonagon is now the Baraga County Memorial Hospital, 47 miles away. UP Health-Portage, in Hancock, is the second nearest.
Also appearing on the August ballot is a request to renew an operating millage for the county’s public transit system.
This proposal will permit Ontonagon County to renew the levy of up to 1.0 mill for public transportation approved by voters in 2020. This millage covers a period of four years, beginning in 2024 and continuing through 2027, on the taxable value of all property in Ontonagon County, State of Michigan, as provided by Article IX, Section 6 of the Michigan Constitution, and the funds received used to fund the Ontonagon County Public Transit System operation for fiscal years 2025 through 2028. The millage, if approved, is expected to generate an estimated $343,628 in the first year.
The Gogebic-Ontonagon Community Action Senior Millage is also up for renewal. The 0.03 mill renewal (30 cents per $1,000 of state taxable value for four years.)This rate has been in effect from 2000-2024 and represents a renewal of that millage rather than an increase. The Gogebic-Ontonagon CAA is a private, nonprofit 501(c)(3) Corporation led by a board of 12 local residents representing the public, private and consumer sectors. The agency serves Gogebic and Ontonagon counties at 20 various sites throughout the two-county area. The taxes so raised to be used exclusively for the operation of the Gogebic-Ontonagon Community Action Agency Senior Citizens Programs in Ontonagon County. If passed, the renewal will raise in the first year of such levy an estimated $76,801.00.
Finally is the proposal of Separate Tax Limitations, which states:
Shall separate tax limitations be continued for a period of four years, 2025, 2026, 2027 and 2028, or until altered by the voters of the county, for the County of Ontonagon and the townships and intermediate school districts within the county, the aggregate of which shall not exceed seven and eighty-four hundredths (7.84) mills ($7.84 per $1,000 of taxable value) as follows:
COUNTY………6.52 mills
TOWNSHIPS….. 1.00 mill
INTERMEDIATE SCHOOL DISTRICT……..0.32 mills
TOTAL…………7.84 mills