Wyandotte Council OKs Putting Millage Before Voters

After some name-calling, gavel banging and raised voices, city council members voted 4-2 Monday night to allow residents to decide if they want to pay higher taxes rather than see city services cut.

It was a tense meeting, but Mayor Joseph Peterson ultimately got what he wanted when

Now that the council has approved it, the wording of the ballot language must be sent to the Michigan Attorney General’s Office for final approval.

If that occurs, residents will head to the polls in November to decide whether they want to approve a three-year, 3-mill tax hike to help balance a projected $1.8-million budget shortfall.

, City Administrator Todd Drysdale said. So three mills would equal the estimated $1.8 million shortfall.

If voters approve the millage, , City Assessor Colleen Keehn said. Collection of the tax would begin in December.

An independent met for weeks to come up with ideas on addressing the budget shortfall. One of their earliest conclusions was going out for a millage. Peterson said the idea makes sense and his request to council was merely a continuation with what some residents have already suggested.

“This is only letting the citizens decide,” Peterson said. “What’s so wrong with letting the citizens have their say?”

A lot, if you ask Councilman James DeSana and Councilwoman Sheri Sutherby-Fricke, who voted against putting the ballot question before voters.

DeSana said the council has “not done our due diligence” in determining the city’s financial outcast for years down the road. He said if a tax hike is approved, he fears it will only be renewed in future years without any tough choices being made to trim the city’s expenditures.

Sutherby-Fricke said she could not approve it without first discussing it in a budget hearing. The first meeting was set to be held July 25, but now has been pushed ahead to 5 p.m. Wednesday at .

Peterson, who traded jabs with DeSana and Sutherby-Fricke during the meeting, said the entire council has the responsibility of coming up with ideas on balancing the budget.

“For us not to give the citizens the opportunity … because we need more information, I guess we didn’t do our due diligence,” Peterson said. “I would love if we would start working as a team. … It takes a team to sit up here, not an ego."

Eron Feltz, who sat on the that recommended the millage request, said a “small sacrifice from all residents” is better than drastic cuts to city services, such as police and fire.

“The millage is the only option I truly believe we have,” he said. “We need to get this millage thing rolling. I just pray it passes.”

And if it doesn’t?

“Before you know it, the whole city will go to the dogs,” he said.