CLARKSTON — Clarkston city leaders are heading back to the drawing board after voters narrowly rejected a millage that would have helped pay for police, fire and emergency services.
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The proposed 7-mill, four-year public safety millage failed by just 25 votes, with 284 voters casting ballots against it.
“It didn’t fail by that much, but it failed,” resident Carol Eberhardt said.
The millage was proposed as the city faces rising costs associated with providing emergency services. Clarkston contracts with Independence Township for those services, and Smith said the city has been absorbing annual cost increases.
“We’ve been absorbing it the last two years, absorbing that annual increase, but we can’t keep doing that,” Clarkston City Manager Jonathan Smith said.
And that's why the millage showed up on the ballot. If it would have passed, the cost for each homeowner would depend on the taxable value of their home and could be reduced depending on changes to the operating millage and budget.
Smith said he understands why some residents may have been hesitant to support another tax increase.
“People were, I think, nervous. They’re getting hit with a lot of cost increases at home. I get it. I am too. So I certainly understand it,” he said.
Still, some Clarkston residents supported the proposal because of concerns about maintaining emergency services.
“We don’t like the idea of not having police and fire and EMS services. That’s a scary thought,” Smith said.
Carol Eberhardt, who previously served as Clarkston city manager, voted in favor of the millage and praised the community’s fire services.
“We have the best fire department, I think, in the world,” Eberhardt said.
She believes another factor may have contributed to the millage's defeat. City officials had said the city's general fund millage would possibly be rolled back if the public safety millage passed.
“They said they would roll back the general fund millage if this millage passed. And I don’t think people trusted that,” Eberhardt said.
Now, city council members will have to determine how to cover the increasing costs without the additional millage revenue.
Eberhardt said that could require some difficult budget decisions.
“Once they see what gymnastics they’re going to have to do down there to kind of try to get it fixed, it’s not going to be fun,” she said.
Smith said Clarkston's emergency services are covered through June, giving city leaders some time to determine their next steps.
“How do we get through this? It’s still being determined,” Smith said.
Clarkston City Council is expected to discuss its options at its meeting Monday, November 9th.
