Clinton County election results: Bath Township millage proposal fails
Three months after voters rejected a millage proposal, Bath Township residents pushed back on a smaller tax hike, according to unofficial election results. Voters in August rejected a proposal by more than 600 votes to raise the township’s operating millage by 1.46 mills, which would have restored millage lost due to the Headlee Amendment, which limits property tax growth, and allowed the township to levy a full 5 mills for general operations. The proposal would have raised $893,000 annually. Township officials went back to voters with a smaller 1 mill proposal, which would have allowed the township to levy about 4.548 mills for operations, and raise an additional $609,500 per year. Voters rejected that idea too, with 3,616 no votes and 2,384 yes votes. The township, which has a population of about 13,500, has an annual budget of about $4.5 million, Township Supervisor Ryan Fewins-Bliss said. Last month Fewins-Bliss said the township has never asked for a millage to restore funds lost to Headlee. He said August's millage failure made it clear voters thought that proposal was too much. "We heard from the residents that was maybe too much of an ask," Fewins-Bliss said in October. The millage proposal would
