LANSING — You're hearing a lot about the November election but before then, voters in Ingham County can weigh in on two millage proposals, one for health care and another for senior services, both of which will be on the Aug. 6 ballot.
Both tax levies expire this year and are among almost a dozen special millages the county assesses on property owners, from a levy supporting Potter Park Zoo to an initiative to preserve green space to the county's animal shelter.
Here's what you need to know:
Health services millage
The county has used its existing millage of 0.63 mill to fund general health care and mental health care services through the Ingham Health Plan Corporation and Community Mental Health. The millage is used to support Ingham County residents whose household income is at or below 250% of federal poverty guidelines, which is $75,000 for a family of four in Michigan.
The contracts include about $2.2 million for the general health plan and $1.6 million for the mental health plan, although the county didn't spend that much on either contract last year.
Officials spent $1.4 million in 2023 for the general health plan, which covered 1,657 people as of Jan. 31, and $527,000 for the mental health plan, which covered 408 people in 2023.
Jared Cypher, Ingham County's deputy controller, said the health care ballot question could allow Ingham County Health Department to use money in ways it isn't able to now. He said that could mean supporting Medicare patients or those with existing insurance, although the details of the millage spending, if approved, would be up to the Ingham County Health Department board.
The millage proposal is for four years, 2024-27, and would raise around $6 million in the first year. It would cost the owner of a home with a taxable value of $100,000 about $63 a year.
The millage has a fund balance of $7.3 million, and the county did not collect its Health Services millage in 2022 and 2023, in part because of ample federal stimulus money, enough to cover the contracts.
Anne Barna, the county's deputy health officer for administration, said the program doesn't turn people away for lack of payment and most people can get mental and behavioral health and dental work covered.
Cypher said people who are covered by Medicaid or private insurance may not always be able to afford health care services. Having additional funding could open up other options, like supplemental contracts that would allow more people to be served, he said.
Elder services
Cypher said a renewal of the county's elder services millage would allow many of Ingham County's senior programs, run through the Tri-County Office on Aging, to continue.
The county currently levies 0.29 mill for the senior care millage. Officials are asking voters to renew it at 0.3 mill, for four years, 2024-27.
The millage is expected to raise $2.4 million in the first year, and would continue to cost the owner of a home with a taxable value of $100,000 about $30 a year.
The programs would include reducing wait lists and expand in-home care, Meals of Wheels support and crisis programs for the elderly.
Casey Cooper, assistant director of the Tri-County Office on Aging, declined to comment for the story.
Upcoming county millage expirations
The county's special millages expire at staggered times.
Here is when they expire, how many mills and what the tax levies raised in the most recent year:
- 2026: Potter Park Zoo (0.49; $4.5 million); Trails and Parks (0.49, $4.5 million); and the public transportation for the elderly and disabled (0.59, $5.4 million)
- 2028: Farmland/open space (0.13, $1.3 million)
- 2030: Animal Shelter (0.20, $1.8 million); Juvenile Justice (0.60, $5.4 million); 911 System (0.84, $7.7 million)
- 2038: Justice (0.84, $7.7 million)
Contact Mike Ellis at mellis@lsj.com or 517-267-0415
Most Popular
Comments / 0