GRAND RAPIDS, MI – Kent County voters on Aug. 2 are asked to consider an eight-year renewal of the county’s dedicated Veterans Millage.
If the renewal is approved, Kent County residents would continue to pay a .05-mill tax through 2029 supporting veteran services and resources in the county.
The tax renewal is expected to generate about $1.32 million in the first full calendar year. For a homeowner with a home valued at $200,000, the annual tax equates to about $5 a year, according to county officials.
The millage dollars afford increased veteran outreach and emergency services in the county through the Kent County Veterans Services Office. The dollars are also used to hire more staff at the Veterans Services Office to help county veterans and their dependents find veteran-related benefits and shorten the time it takes to be approved or denied for them.
The Veterans Services Office also provides referrals to local non-profit agencies using the dollars.
“The millage has allowed Kent County Veterans Services to meet the increased demand for services, assist with Veterans Affairs claims and emergency services,” officials with Citizens Supporting Kent County Veterans said. “The department has been able to initiate several programs to assist Kent County veterans with health, depression, PTSD (post-traumatic stress disorder) and other situations that veterans face.”
Voters first passed the eight-year, Dedicated Veterans Millage in 2014.
According to data from the Kent County Veterans Services Office, the office has distributed more than $27.53 million in U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs benefits between 2017 and 2021, $1.6 million in emergency funds during that time period, $23,650 in Meijer food vouchers between 2020 and 2021 and $42,681 in scholarships between 2015 and 2017.
Among other efforts, the office hosted 46 outreach events between 2019 and 2021 to share information about veterans’ services and in 2021 contracted with Arbor Circle to provide free substance use disorder and couples’ treatment for veterans in the company of their veteran peers.
People can find out more about the Kent County Veteran Services Office, which was created in 2008, at this website: accesskent.com/Departments/VeteransServices/.
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