Two County Millages on August Ballot

East Lansing voters will play a role in deciding the fate of two millages on the August Primary Ballot. Both proposals were approved by the Ingham County Commissioners, and are up for renewal after they were last approved by voters in 2020.

One millage provides funding for essential services to older Ingham County residents and the other funds health care and mental health care for low income residents.  

ELi spoke with county officials and representatives from the organizations coordinating the work the millages would carry out.

Jared Cypher is the Ingham County deputy controller and works with the county commissioners in their efforts. He has been with the county government for 24 years and in his current position for 13. He explained how the millages come to fruition.

“So by and large,” he said, “These agencies that we contract with come to the commissioners and talk to them about what the needs in the community are and what they would need in order to cover those needs. What resources do they have? They have to have funding in order to cover those needs. And it’s a discussion that they have with the Board of Commissioners and with us, quite frankly.”

The agencies differ for each millage.

Millage #1: Ingham County Elder Persons Millage

First passed on the 2020 budget and receiving more than 76% of the vote, this initiative was created to “to eliminate wait list[s]” and expand “critical services such as in-home care, meals on wheels, crisis services, and support for senior centers to support the growing population of persons age sixty (60) and older residing in Ingham County,” according to language in the ballot proposal.

The renewal is for .3 mills, which means residents owning homes worth $100,000 would continue paying approximately $30 in yearly tax if this millage is renewed. 

The Tri-County Office on Aging is the agency that receives the bulk of these funds. ELi spoke with Mary Alban, chair of the Elder Services Millage Campaign Committee, to learn about the millage and how the funding is used. Alban has previously worked for the Office on Aging.

“The county commissioners,” she said, “in their wisdom, looked at the growing population of older adults in Ingham County and it’s over 20%. We older people are the fastest growing single age group. And during Covid, they decided it was time to pursue a millage for senior programs. The vast majority of counties in Michigan have one. We were one of only a handful of counties that didn’t have one.

“Many people were on waiting lists [at the time] for critical services, like Meals on Wheels and in-home services. These are people that, by definition, are vulnerable. They’re people who are not well off financially. And they need help to stay in their homes, or they’re gonna go to a nursing home. And surveys have shown over and over and over again the vast majority of older people would rather not go to a nursing home. They’d rather stay in their own home and get help.”

Alban said that more than 100,000 meals were served to more than 800 people per year through Meals on Wheels, eliminating the waiting list for services that existed before the millage.

In addition to that service, millage funds have also helped seniors from being evicted, losing electricity or gas, and other, more isolated, unique supports.

“There’s a man I know of who did not have a working refrigerator,” Alban said. “During the winter, he was storing his food in his van. What was he going to do during the summer? The millage stepped up and bought him a refrigerator. Now, I can tell you there are no other sources of government funding that would do that.”

Other supports may include snow shoveling and assisting with showering and hygiene.

Millage #2: Ingham County Basic Health Services

Introduced in 2012, the second millage provides “basic health care and mental health services to lower-income Ingham County residents, including to help pay for access to doctor visits, generic medications, mental health visits and essential care such as preventive testing and treatment for cancer, diabetes, heart disease and other serious illnesses, as well as to support community mental health services for at-risk populations,” according to language in the ballot proposal.

The renewal of .63 mills means residents owning homes worth $100,000 would pay approximately $63 in yearly tax.

Ingham Health Plan and Community Mental Health Authority of Clinton, Eaton, and Ingham Counties share the funds.

Lori Noyer is the Director of Ingham Health Plan.

“We provide a community based health benefit for low income Ingham County residents who would otherwise be uninsured,” she said. “They don’t qualify for Medicaid. They may not have employer sponsored health coverage, so we are that safety net option for people.”

Residents become connected to Ingham Health Plan through community partners, Noyer said.

“They may show up at a doctor’s appointment and not have health coverage,” she said. “They may show up at a pharmacy looking for a prescription [and] they don’t have health coverage. They may go into a community agency looking for food or housing resources, and through those conversations they learn that they don’t have health coverage. And so again, we really look to our community partners to help connect those folks to us, so that then they can go and receive those services.”

The organization precedes the millage, Noyer said, because other funding was originally in place to support these efforts. 

“We’ve already served over 2,000 people this year,” she said, saying that numbers have risen since residents have been removed from Medicaid rolls they were added to during the height of the pandemic.

“Supporting the health services millage improves the community,” Noyer said. “Having someone uninsured leads to higher costs, higher impacts on the community. Having somebody have some of their basic health coverage, can get them to the doctor, get them their medications, dental care, behavioral health supports.”

Community Mental Health Authority (CMHA) of Clinton, Eaton, and Ingham Counties is the second major beneficiary of the millage. Sara Lurie is the CMHA of Clinton, Eaton, and Ingham Counties chief executive officer.

“We are very much a safety-net bound by the Michigan Mental Health Code serving severe, persistent, mentally ill individuals with serious intellectual development disabilities, youth with emotional disturbances, and adults with substance abuse disorders,” she said. “We’re also a certified community health clinic.”

CMHA was also hit by a cut in financial support, this time a 60% state budget cut prior to the millage first being adopted in 2012. The millage was initially passed to help make up for some of this lost funding. 

“We had to stop providing services to about 500 uninsured and underinsured individuals we had been serving for some time,” Lurie said. “So Ingham County was very generous and proactive, including us in the millage. It’s allowed us to maintain care. Maintain care for people who are uninsured or who are on what’s called a ‘Medicaid spend down,’ which means that they have to spend a large amount of their personal income every month before they qualify for Medicaid coverage.”

The millage allowed CMHA to serve 408 individuals in 2023 and Lurie expects that number to more than double in 2024.

“We have a 24/7 walk-in crisis services area,” she said. “It also covers just regular intake assessment for services, some of our youth home based treatment for at-risk youth and their families, a spectrum of different community based treatment teams for vulnerable individuals.”

For both millages and any community partners, only Ingham County residents are eligible to receive millage-provided treatments and supports.

The Michigan Primary Election will be held Tuesday, August 6. Michigan residents may check their voter registration and polling location here. Early voting for the election has already started via absentee ballot, at one of the city’s ballot drop boxes or at the Early Voting Center at 405 Grove Street.