Laurium cuts proposed DPW millage rate for November
Measure to appear on Nov. ballot
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LAURIUM -- The village council structured a replacement ballot proposal for its expiring Department of Public Works equipment millage during a special meeting on Aug. 10.
During the session, the council amended the public works equipment ballot language and reduced the proposed millage rate from its current levy. Because the council lowered the rate and altered the language, the initiative must legally appear on the November ballot as a new proposal replacing an expiring millage rather than a standard renewal.
The current 2.5-mill tax ($2.50 per $1,000 of taxable value) covers 2022 through 2026 and is set to expire at the end of the year. The new proposal will lower the rate to 2.25 mills, or $2.25 per $1,000 of taxable value, for a five-year period stretching from 2027 through 2031.
Village Manager Ian Lewis said the new proposal is necessary because it does not qualify as a standard renewal request.
“We are lowering the millage,” Lewis said, “and a new DPW millage proposal must be submitted because it will be changed to include repair and maintenance of equipment, rather than just the purchase of new equipment.”
The modified language updates the scope of the funds to cover purchasing, upgrading, repairing and maintaining DPW equipment, alongside general department expenses. The new format also allows the village to capture additional revenue generated by recent increases in local taxable property values. The proposal is expected to raise approximately $79,000 during its first year in 2027.
The proposal represents a 0.25-mill reduction from the previously approved rate and is the second millage reduction discussed this year by the Laurium Village Council. The council previously approved a 1-mill reduction earlier this year regarding the fire apparatus millage.
The proposed millage will read as follows on the November ballot:
“The Village of Laurium proposes to replace a prior approved, expiring Department of Public Works equipment millage levy of 2.50 mills ($2.50 per $1,000 of state taxable value) for years 2022 through 2026, inclusive, at a reduced amount as described below:
Shall the Village of Laurium levy a new, additional millage of up to 2.25 mills ($2.25 per $1,000 of taxable value) for a period of 5 years (2027 through 2031, inclusive) for the purpose of purchasing, upgrading, repairing, and maintaining Department of Public Works equipment and other Department of Public Works expenses, which is estimated to raise $79,000 in the first year of the levy, and shall the Village of Laurium be authorized to levy said millage?”