TRAVERSE CITY -- Members of a mostly lame-duck Garfield Township board tore a page from their primary opponents' tax-cutting platforms and slashed township property tax rates for 2009.
The board voted 4 to 2 to cut Garfield's millage from 3.35 mills to 2.67 mills, a move that reduces tax revenues by more than $400,000. For property owners, those cuts will be tempered by a 0.15-mill increase in the fire millage, resulting in an overall reduction of 10 percent in their property tax rate.
"Property owners deserved a break. They are getting overtaxed right now and we wanted to fix it," said township Trustee Joe McManus.
The cut eliminates the board's unannounced 0.5 mill hike of the tax rate in 2006 that caught residents off-guard. Challengers cited the tax increase often during their victorious summer primary campaign and promised to reduce spending and cut taxes.
The size of the cut caught some by surprise.
"It was the direction we were leaning, cutting costs, cutting taxes, but now we just kind of got pushed into the pool," said township Supervisor-elect Chuck Korn. "It's a given the township can't run on (2.67) mills so money is going to come out of the fund balance."
At its current $3 million level, sitting township officials said the fund balance is $1 million larger than the township needs.
"The fire millage increase was necessary," said Trustee Brand Barnes. "With the fund balance higher than what's needed ... it's not appropriate to raise taxes with the economy and things being as tough as they are."
Treasurer Dennis Habedank and Clerk Kay Schumacher voted against the plan because they wanted a smaller reduction. Schumacher, the one incumbent returned to the board by voters, estimates the cuts and other, economy-based tax losses will create a $500,000 hole in the budget.
"I think it's premature to reduce the millage by that amount when we haven't looked at the budget yet and determined where the cuts would be made," Schumacher said.
Supervisor Lee Wilson stopped work on the 2009 budget after he lost the August primary to Korn. Wilson is on vacation and did not attend last week's board meeting.
A new board, with two spots still to be determined by voters on Nov. 4, will take over Nov. 20. It will have fewer than five weeks to draft a budget, hold a public hearing and adopt the plan.
Korn said he'll propose combining the township's zoning and planning offices and hopes to find other efficiencies. He believes township officials will be able to rely heavily on the fund balance in 2009, but he expects the new board eventually may have to raise the tax rate.
"It would have made more sense to drop (the millage) a quarter of a point," Korn said. " I think that is something that is sustainable."
Funeral to be held for Powell boys
Kobe was 'rooting for Patriots' in Super Bowl
Sandusky on having to stay inside and people turning on him
Wookie Sensation
Uzbek Man Pleads Guilty in Plot to Kill Obama
Woolly Mammoth Caught on Camera?
Sandusky makes a statement
Did JLo 'Assault' Marc Anthony on Camera?
Christie Brinkley's Runway Slip
Toddler forced to run half-naked in snow
Halle Wants to Leave the Country
Northern Lights shine above earth
Plane makes perfect belly landing
Kris Jenner New Face of Arousal Oils
Raw Video: School Bus Burst Into Flames
Trending: Zip it!
What's in Steve Jobs' FBI file?
SJP Talks About Replacing Demi Moore in 'Lovelace'
Over 200 dead dolphins wash ashore
Lady Gaga's Battle With Bulimia
