The Orion Township board of trustees held a truth-in-budgeting public hearing September 16 to set the millage rates for the 2014 budget.
The proposed 2013 millage rates were voted and passed 7-0 with the millage rates set as follows: general fund 0.9322; fire fund .9916; police fund 1.9832; police fund 1.0168; safety paths .2382; totaling 5.1620.
‘They haven’t gone up substantially with the exception of the new police millage which was collected last year the first time right after the election,? Penny Shults, Township Clerk, said at the meeting.
‘We have authority over the general fund, fire fund, police funds and safety path but the library has their own dedicated millage,? Shults explained. The library mill was set at 1.5 mills.
Trustee Neal Porter made the motion, supported by Trustee John Steimel to approve the rates.
‘I would just say that we are number five or six out of 62 municipalities in the county on the good side, so that’s good news. It’s cheap to live in Orion Township,? township supervisor Chris Barnett said.
According to the 2012 Oakland County Equalization Comparison of Tax Rates, Orion Township’s tax rate was 5.5641 in 2011 and 6.5089 in 2012, with an 18.27 percent increase per thousand taxable value for the new police millage that was voted on.
? In general people’s taxes have gone down because property values have gone down,? Barnett said. ‘Although property values are now on the rise, the tax increases are capped, thanks to Proposal A.?
Oxford Township’s were 10.2072 in 2011 and 11.2372 in 2012, with the Village of Lake Orion’s at 12.7969 and 13.4401 respectively.
Brandon’s tax rate was 6.7639 and 7.2686 for 2011 and 2012, with Independence at 8.0314 and 8.4814 respectively. Oakland Township taxes for 2011 and 2012 were 6.6000 and 6.3960 respectively.
The 2014 budget will be adopted later in the year.
‘We are in the process of establishing that budget, we are holding budget workshops now, and we should expect that to be in our first meeting in December,? Shults said.
The township’s fiscal year ends December 31.