While races for Springfield Township elected offices were virtually decided in the August primary, residents have at least one local choice to make in the Nov. 2 general election.
The ballot will include a local question on renewing one of two township police tax levies, which officials stress is a renewal with a Headlee Amendment rollback.
The proposal asks voters to approve 0.7289 mill for another 10 years. Revenue generated from the first year of the renewed levy is estimated at $420,000.
A mill is $1 for every $1,000 of a property’s ‘taxable value.? If the renewal is approved, the owner of a home with a taxable value of $150,000 would pay $118.80 annually.
The current levy is 0.7920, but Supervisor Collin Walls said the rollback figure should be adequate to continue the current contract with the Oakland County Sheriff’s Department for 10 deputies.
‘We need this to retain four deputies,? Supervisor Collin Walls said, with the other six paid through a 1.3718 mill-levy set to expire in December 2007.
The second levy will likely be up for a vote in 2006, and township officials believe the question of whether to seek additional staffing for the Springfield substation can wait for then.
‘We’re comfortable with the present level of service,? Walls said, citing the presence of at least two deputies on each shift and a decrease in crime reports. ‘Things are working pretty well.?
Another choice appears on the ballot, but it is a bit misleading. Theresa LaPorte filed nominating petitions for the office of township treasurer with ‘no party affiliation,? but later changed her mind because of a new job.
‘I’m not campaigning,? LaPorte said last week, but she did not meet the deadline for withdrawing her name from contention.
Other partisan township offices, including the board of trustees and the parks and recreation commission, had competition among Republican candidates in the August primary, but no Democrats filed.
A nonpartisan township library commission appears on the Nov. 2, but only five candidates filed nominating petitions for the six available seats. After the election, library trustees are expected to choose someone to fill the sixth seat.