Clarkston City Council voted 6-1 at its Sept. 25 meeting to approve the Intergovernmental Library Agreement with Independence Township.
The agreement is the same as that signed in 1999. City residents will still have the same library priveledges and responsibilities as people in the township. The difference is in the amount the city will be required to pay to the township for the service.
The old agreement specified that the city pays the township 0.75 mills times the taxable value of all property assessed in Clarkston. The new agreement specifies that the mills used in the formula will be the same as that used in the township, currently 0.691. The new agreement also states that the township must pay the city a library fee of $250 per month, in lieu of book-fine money and any state revenue Clarkston to which it may have been entitled.
Council member Cory Johnston voted against the agreement.
‘It’s better than what we had – my reservation is that it’s structured as a tax,? Johnston said.
Both agreements in effect places a tax on city residents without voters? approval, he said.
‘The citizens didn’t get a chance to vote on this,? he said.
The city isn’t supposed to raise taxes without a vote, he said.
The council approved the agreement with a stipulation that a cover letter accompany it, specifying that the millage rate is set at 0.691.