Oxford’s fire and police millages were the big winners in the Nov. 4 general election.
Township and village residents approved the six-year, 3.5-mill fire tax by a vote of 4,136 to 2,835.
The 1-mill increase will allow the fire department to hire two more full-time firefighters/paramedics and create a part-time position that’s filled 12 hours a day, seven days a week. It will also enable the department to refurbish two 1996 trucks and get at least another 10 years out of them.
Fire Chief Pete Scholz wished to express his department’s gratitude to Oxford residents “for their continued support in helping us provide the best quality care that we can.”
“Thank you very much,” he said. “We appreciate it.”
Township residents voted 3,167 to 2,676 to approve a five-year, 3.9152-mill tax to fund the municipality’s law enforcement services contract with the Oakland County Sheriff’s Office. This will allow the Oxford substation to maintain the current staffing level of 15 officers and add two more deputies by 2019.
“Everybody really worked hard on that (campaign). It was nice to see that go through,” said Sheriff’s Sgt. Scott Patterson, commander of the Oxford Township substation. “I’m relieved and appreciative of the support from the people of Oxford. I’m humbled by the support they give us all the time. It’s nice that we won’t have to address this (funding issue) for another five years. We can concentrate on keeping the community safe.”
The Oxford Public Library struck out for the third time with its millage request.
Residents voted 3,612 to 3,367 to fail the proposed 10-year, 0.4518-mill tax hike.
In a question-and-answer piece the Leader published the week prior to the election, Library Director Bryan Cloutier stated if the millage didn’t pass, the library will close on Sundays beginning Jan. 1 and “hours of operation during the week will be reduced accordingly as well.” Educational programs will be reduced, too, and additional staffing reductions are “not out of the question,” Cloutier said.
The library millage failed in six out of seven voter precincts. Only Precinct 7 voters approved the proposed tax hike 627 to 426. Precinct 7 includes the entire Waterstone development.
Oxford voters failed library millage proposals for the same amount in August 2012 and August 2014.
Over in Addison, residents voted 1,257 to 1,216 to reject a five-year, 0.25-mill tax request to help fund the North Oakland Transportation Authority (NOTA). Voters in Addison’s precincts 1 and 2 approved the NOTA millage 478-458 and 495-461, respectively. However, voters in precinct 3, the township’s southeastern portion, failed it 338 to 243.
As a result of the millage failure, the township will no longer be part of NOTA come Jan. 1, according to township Supervisor Bruce Pearson, which means no more publicly-subsidized bus service for Addison’s senior citizens, disabled individuals and low-income residents.
Pearson, who’s also the chairman of the NOTA board, was disappointed by the outcome.
“Boy, I don’t know what to say,” he said. “I thought it was going to pass. I really did. I thought that the people cared enough about their seniors and about their disabled people that it would pass. But I guess we’re back to square one — we won’t have any service.”
“I hope that all our seniors have good neighbors that can take them places,” Pearson noted. “I don’t know what the people will do. That’s a tough one. There’s no way we can start up a (transportation) service (like NOTA) that cheap.”
This is the second time Addison voters have failed the NOTA millage request. Back in the August primary election, it went down 557 to 531.
Pearson vowed to keep his promise that if the voters failed the millage a second time, he would not attempt to keep Addison in NOTA by using $70,000 from the municipality’s general fund to pay the township’s share for services.
“I won’t do that,” the supervisor said. “I won’t go around the voters. It wouldn’t be right to go around them, especially after the second (vote). It’s just not the right thing to do.”
On the flip side, Addison voters approved a 10-year, 0.2-mill increase for their public library. It passed 1,380 to 1,146.
In addition to tax proposals, voters in the Oxford school district went to the polls to elect four new board members.
The winners were challengers Joyce Brasington (3,060), Mike Schweig (2,942) and Mark Stepek (2,553) along with incumbent Kim Shumaker (2,215).
The other school board candidate vote totals were as follows — Paula Foster (2,029), Pam Phelps (1,689), Noah Stevens (1,673), Amy Hamilton (1,623) and Angela Mitchell (1,344).
School board results encompass votes from Oxford, Addison, Brandon, Metamora and Dryden townships. A small portion of Hadley Township is also part of the district, but no votes were cast there.
In the Leonard Village Council races, Paul Almeranti and Larry Hoffman ran unopposed and won with 96 and 91 votes, respectively.
State Rep. Brad Jacobsen (R-Oxford) won another two-year term representing the 46th district. He beat Democratic challenger David Lillis, of Lake Orion, 21,513 to 9,597.
Oakland County Commissioner Mike Spisz (R-Oxford) also won another two-year term representing the 3rd District. He beat Democratic challenger Rick Kelley, of Ortonville, 14,033 to 6,405.
Voter-turnout was slightly higher in Oxford and Addison than in the county as a whole.
County-wide 449,940 (or 48.18 percent) of 933,938 registered voters participated in the election.
In Oxford, 7,309 (or 49 percent) of the township’s 14,976 voters cast a ballot, while over in Addison, 2,618 (or 53 percent) of the 4,941 registered voters went to the polls or cast absentee ballots.