Simpler ballot language and a concerted effort to get the word out is how Addison officials plan to get voters to approve their police millage the second time around.
‘I think it’s in English rather than legalese,? said Treasurer Dan Alberty, referring to the re-worded proposal.
But first the township board must agree to place the eight-year, 3.5 mill tax proposal on the November 7 general election ballot.
Officials are expected to vote on the millage language and its placement on the ballot at their Monday, Aug. 21 meeting. The language must be filed with Oakland County by Tuesday, Aug. 29.
Voters failed this same millage proposal in the Aug. 8 primary election by a margin of 435-365.
‘I would hope that they didn’t realize that it was the sole millage for police,? Alberty said.
Without a voter-approved millage in place, Addison has absolutely no dedicated funding after their current fiscal year to continue contracting for police services from the Oakland County Sheriff’s Department.
‘We will be totally out (of police money) come March 31,? said Alberty.
‘This is a do-or-die situation,? said Oakland County Sheriff Sgt. Pete Burkett, commander of the Addison substation.
Should the millage fail again in November, Burkett said, ‘There would be no (sheriff’s) substation in Addison Township. No dedicated patrols at all in Addison Township. They’d have to find other means of police protection.?
Addison’s two previous police millages both expired with the December 2005 tax levy.
‘We can’t afford to have it fail again,? said Supervisor Bob Koski. ‘It can’t come out of general fund.?
Addison’s police contract substation in Addison Township. No dedicated patrols at all in Addison Township. They’d have to find other means of police protection.?
Addison’s two previous police millages both expired with the December 2005 tax levy.
‘We can’t afford to have it fail again,? said Supervisor Bob Koski. ‘It can’t come out of the general fund.?
Addison’s police contract for next year will cost approximately $900,000. The township’s general fund, which pays the government’s operating costs, is about $1.1 million. ‘The police budget is almost 90 percent of what the general fund has,? said Alberty, noting it’s not a viable funding option.
Officials are hoping the new ballot language, which is worded in a simpler and clearer way than on the August ballot, will help lead to the millage’s approval.
‘The intention with rewriting the language was strictly to try to make it less legalese and more user-friendly,? Alberty said. ‘Whether people understood the first time or not, there won’t be any question this time.?
Alberty noted one of the election workers said some voters could have misinterpreted the original language to mean the money could be used for other things, which is not the case. ‘Some people were afraid that it could have been used for township business instead of just dedicated to police,? the treasurer said.
By law, money approved by voters in a dedicated millage cannot be used for anything other than the purpose stated on the ballot, in this case police services.
Clerk Pauline Bennett believes the original language was fine and clearly understood by voters.
‘I don’t think the language confused Addison Township residents,? she said. ‘It’s the same language as the fire department (millage) and that passed.
‘I think we need to find out what is the problem and work on it instead of passing blame as far as why it failed,? Bennett explained.
But Alberty made it clear he didn’t believe the failure was solely due to the ballot language.
‘I’m not going to blame it on the language because I’ve talked to numerous people who’ve had numerous reasons for why they wouldn’t vote for it,? he said. ‘Some people, for whatever reason, get the impression that (the deputies are) not doing their job.?
Alberty said this is a false impression of the hard work Addison’s deputies do everyday and it must be corrected among voters.
‘We get good service,? he said. ‘We don’t have a problem with the service and the response is good.?
If Addison residents are perceiving a problem with the service the sheriff’s department is providing, Sgt. Burkett said he would be ‘more than happy to sit down? and discuss it with them.
‘I’m an open-minded guy,? the sergeant said.
There were others who just didn’t vote when it came to the police millage and Alberty doesn’t know why.
‘There were I think over 50 people that under-voted, did not vote one way or the other for the millage,? he said. ‘I’m not sure if they didn’t see it on the ballot, didn’t understand it or just didn’t want to vote.?
To help get the word out this time about how vital this millage is to the township’s future safety and security, Alberty, Bennett and Koski plan to talk directly to voters.
‘We will be making personal phone calls,? Alberty said. ‘I can’t speak for the rest of the board, but the administration will (be) at least.?
‘I think Addison people are very educated and we need to go out and inform them of how important this millage is,? Bennett said.
Koski said they will each try to make as many calls as possible in effort to inform both absentee voters and those who plan to cast a ballot on election day. The Aug. 8 police millage passed 238-234 among voters who went to the polls, yet failed 201-127 among absentee voters.
‘I think what happened was we just didn’t get the message out there enough to the public of how important this is,? said Sgt. Burkett.
In order to ‘get the public educated? on the millage, Burkett said the command officers and deputies? unions are contributing money to a Political Action Committee called ‘Citizens for a Safe Addison Township.?
‘They plan on giving us a lot of assistance,? Burkett said. The money will be used to buy ‘new signs? and ‘more signs? promoting the millage issue along with sending out informational mailers to the residents.
When it gets closer to the election, Burkett said they plan on personally phoning residents to remind them how important this millage is to the community.
Due to Headlee rollbacks, the 3.5-mill request does represent an increase over the combined 2.8750 mills that was last levied for police services in Addison.
However, the 3.5-mill proposal also represents what voters approved in the past. In 1986, voters authorized 2.5 mills for police. In 2002, they passed an additional amount of 1 mill. Both millages expired in Dec. 2005.
Alberty wished to remind residents that just because they approve 3.5 mills doesn’t mean the township will levy all of it. He said the board will only levy what’s needed and that could be less than 3.5 mills.
He noted that simply asking voters for a straight renewal of 2.8750 mills ? with no increase ? is not an option. ‘We would have to cut one deputy,? he said.
Alberty also wished to retract his statements in last week’s newspaper about having to cut deputies in order to make it through the current fiscal year. Contrary to what he originally said, the treasurer noted the township does have enough money to get through March 31, 2007 with the current level of staffing ‘as long as? there are no unexpected cost increases.
‘We should have enough money,? he said. ‘I mean it will be razor-thin.?