By Graham Sturgeon, staff writer
The Shiawassee County Chapter of the Michigan Township Association met Tuesday, Dec. 1, to name its representative to the newly-created County Advisory Tax Limitation Committee, but the decision had to be delayed until the Tuesday, Dec. 15, meeting because only eight of the 16 township supervisors were able to attend Tuesday’s meeting.
A candidate must receive nine votes to earn the nomination and the group of eight was divided equally between supervisors Phil Matthews, R-Sciota, and Mike Herendeen, R-Middlebury. New nominees will most likely be chosen on Dec. 15 after everyone gets a chance to be included in the discussion. That meeting will be at the Shiawassee County Road Commission when proposed 2016 projects will be outlined, then it will be up to townships to decide what they want to pay for.
The committee will be tasked with crafting the County Operating Millage ballot question to be voted on in 2016. The county’s current Operating Millage of 5.555 mills was approved in 1996 and will expire in April 2017. Both the amount to be levied and the number of years levied may change, with several county commissioners pushing for shorter cycles between Operating Millage votes.
The Board of Commissioners hoped the millage question would be approved by Dec. 12, the deadline for the BOC to vote to place the question on the March 8 Presidential Primary Election ballot, but that is looking unlikely with the MTA’s decision to postpone its vote. The question could also be placed on the August ballot or the November ballot, both of which usually draw more voters.
The rest of the committee will include County Treasurer Tom Dwyer; Bruce Cook of Owosso, as the BOC citizen-at-large; the chairman of the county’s Finance Committee; the SRESD Sup’t. or his representative; and a person to be named Dec. 7 by the Owosso City Council. The committee is required to meet no more than 10 days after the final member is selected.
