Arbor Update

Ann Arbor Area Community News

Election 2006: Parks Millage

31. October 2006 • Juliew
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An Arbor Update reader says:

The parks millage is one issue on which the two candidates for mayor disagree, according to the Ann Arbor News.

Tom Wall contends that there may be sufficient money already within the City budget to provide adequate maintenance for parks. Wall suggested during the CTN debates that volunteerism, especially on the part of young people, could be a positive force in addressing a range of local challenges, including parks maintenance.

John Hieftje has said he supports the parks millage, saying that the small increased millage rate (compared with the combined rate of the expiring parks millages) is needed in light of the Headlee rollback and the fact that the City has added more park land.
Vets
In light of the summer/winter tax cycle, Doug Cowherd (Sierra Club) asked City staff during one of the public meetings if this November election was, in fact, the last possible election time by when a millage would have to be approved, in order to keep the revenue stream associated with the parks millages uninterrupted. Answer: No, that’s Spring 2007.

And apropos of tax cycles, you gotta love it when over a hundred people descend upon a park and generate some activity there by racing their bicycles through it as they did this Sunday in Veterans Park.



  1. “In light of the summer/winter tax cycle, Doug Cowherd (Sierra Club) asked City staff during one of the public meetings if this November election was, in fact, the last possible election time by when a millage would have to be approved, in order to keep the revenue stream associated with the parks millages uninterrupted. Answer: No, that’s Spring 2007.”

    So if it wasn’t approved before spring 2007, what would happen? Would we lose parks, services (which services?), or both? (In other words—what exactly does this pay for?) And why is there a separate millage for parks, anyway?

    OK, I’m clueless.


       —Bruce Fields    Nov. 2 '06 - 09:15AM    #

  2. The AA News came out in opposition to this proposal, so it could easily fail.

    I’m in favor of it. I think there are enough people watching Council closely so that the city would not dare pull a bait-and-switch on these funds.


       —David Cahill    Nov. 4 '06 - 06:07PM    #