Council Approves Ballot Language for Parks Millage that Would Increase Property Tax Cap
This November, East Lansing voters will likely decide whether or not to fund the city’s Parks and Recreation Department through a property tax millage. Critically, that funding would be made possible by raising the property tax cap.
When East Lansing voters approved a city income tax in 2018, the new tax was paired with a decrease in the amount the city can collect in property taxes, down from about 18 mills to 13 mills.
The city is currently collecting about 12.54 mills. The proposed parks millage is for two additional mills. Without sufficient space to collect two mills under the current cap, the city is asking for two of those mills back that were eliminated due to the income tax, raising the property tax cap to 15 mills (1.5% of taxable value). The two mill increase can only be spent on parks and recreation, if the ballot initiative passes.
Council approved language for the millage and charter amendment in a 3-1 vote at its June 17 meeting.
The proposal comes as the city struggles to balance its budget. Council recently approved a budget for the next fiscal year that carries a structural deficit. Additionally, a forecast on the city’s finances given earlier this year showed East Lansing was on track to go bankrupt within five years without adjustments.
What will be on the ballot.
The ask before voters isn’t just permission to collect a Parks and Recreation millage. The property tax cap is enshrined in the city’s charter – meaning a charter change is on the ballot. The ballot language approved by council reads as follows:
“Currently, Section 10.5 of the City Charter allows the City to levy up to 13 mills on real and personal property each fiscal year for City operations in years the City levies, assesses and collects an income tax. Shall the City Charter be amended to provide, in such years, for a levy of up to 2 additional mills on real and personal property each fiscal year dedicated to City parks and recreation operations and maintenance, which would increase the total annual authorized levy to 15 mills?”
The property tax cap increase would only exist during years that the income tax is in place. The income tax is currently set to sunset in 2031, but city officials have already begun to discuss asking voters to renew the tax.
The proposal was brought by City Manager Robert Belleman as a part of the city’s efforts to eliminate a structural deficit it is budgeted to operate under. Belleman said the millage will allow the parks department to have a stable funding source, sparing it from cuts.
If voters approve the millage, it won’t provide a large increase in funding from what parks are currently receiving. Rather, the millage will replace the general fund’s contribution to parks and rec.
Council members in favor of approving the millage language said residents should be allowed to decide whether or not to maintain parks funding through a property tax hike.
Councilmember Mark Meadows was strongly against putting the millage and charter change on the ballot. He initially proposed delaying a vote to July 15, requesting a list of potential cuts if the millage doesn’t pass and saying that delaying the vote would allow time for input from the Parks and Recreation Advisory Commission and community. Meadows added that pushing back a vote would allow Councilmember Dana Watson, who was absent June 20, to weigh-in.
Meadows said that council received an attorney-client privileged analysis of the proposal. He motioned to delay the vote and make that analysis public. That motion died when it did not receive a second.
Meadows said that passing the millage would be going back on a deal the city made with voters when it received approval to pass the income tax in 2018. Meadows was on council at the time, and helped shepherd the income tax to approval.
“I can’t go back on the pledge that I made,” he said.
Meadows said he thinks the city should balance the budget by going through it and making the cuts that are necessary.
Mayor George Brookover said he is in favor of placing the millage on the ballot because the funds will be dedicated solely to parks and recreation, and voters should be able to decide if the millage is something they want to support.
Mayor Pro Tem Kerry Ebersole Singh agreed with Brookover, saying the city has invested in its parks facilities and maintaining them is important.
“I often have made the joke in my own personal voting record that I don’t think I’ve met a millage that I haven’t voted yes on,” Singh said. “Because I know when you want to invest in your community, it does take resources.”
Altmann said he supports the initiative for the same reasons as Singh and Brookover.
During the meeting, City Attorney Anthony Chubb explained that the ballot language will be sent to the state attorney general and governor for review. If the state rejects the charter amendment, council can override that decision if four out of five council members vote to place it on the ballot.