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| Garden City: No New Taxes | |
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| Tweet Topic Started: May 8 2011, 08:07 PM (294 Views) | |
| LPS Reformer | May 8 2011, 08:07 PM Post #1 |
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The schools exist to educate, not employ.
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Link Garden City voters faced a difficult decision Tuesday on whether to support a five-year, 12-mill dedicated millage for police and fire services. In the end, a majority of voters decided that they couldn't lend its support. The vote was 2,675 no votes to 2,060 yes votes, a margin of 56.49 percent to 43.51 percent. The total ballots cast were 4,750 at the polls which also included a school board election. “I'm disappointed,” said Garden City Mayor Randy Walker. “The voters have spoken and now City Council must react.” Walker said the council will discuss the budget issue at the next council meeting at 7 p.m. Monday, May 9, in council chambers at Garden City Hall, 6000 Middlebelt. The city had asked voters to approve the millage to be used for police and fire. Although the request was for 12 mills, the council said that, following the advice of its City Manager Darwin McClary, it planned to only levy not more than eight mills. The council took heat from some members of the public following a controversial vote. The council had failed to pass a request for eight mills, but gathered the votes for 12 mills when Councilman David Duncan suggested it. The council was in a hurry to get the measure on the May 3 ballot so that it could start collecting the money July 1. If the council opts to again place a millage request on the ballot, the city will not be able to collect the tax revenue until July 1, 2012. The city faces a more than $4 million deficit and the millage would helped finance the police and fire departments, including the hiring of three officers and one firefighter, freeing up money for other city services. A number of people tried to educate the public about the fiscal situation. The police and fire held a separate seminar at the Maplewood Community Center. McClary also held six town hall meetings. Two residents, Dave Fetter and Hank Cable, hosted an informational forum and provided refreshments and a calculator to help residents gauge to the penny how much the millage would cost them. The two men were at city hall Tuesday night to get the bad news. “We worked very hard,” Cable said. Wayne County Commissioner Diane Webb said that these are tough economic times. She said that she would be willing to work with the City Council on cost saving ideas. Although she may not attend council meetings, Webb said that she always makes it a point to watch every televised council meeting and follows the city news. She thought that another millage request for four to eight mills might have done better. Garden City Fire Chief Catherine Harman declined comment, however, Police Chief Robert Muery said that, “The voters have spoken. Now we move forward.” McClary couldn't be reached for a comment on Wednesday. sbuck@hometownlife.com | (313) 222-2249 |
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“Child Abuse” means different things to different people.... ----Randy Liepa 8/9/12 | |
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