By David Fleet
Editor
Atlas Twp.-On May 4 township along with voters in the Village of Goodrich will decide on a police millage renewal of 2.1 mills and a fire millage of 1 mill.
There will be just two locations for township and village voters: The Goodrich United Methodist Church, 8071 S. State Road and Bridgewood Community Church, 10291 Green Road. If residents had voted at St. Mark, 7296 Gale Road they should now go to Bridgewood Community Church. If they had voted at Creekside Acres Event Barn, 7388 S State Road they should now go to Goodrich United Methodist Church.
In May 2017, township voters OK’d a similar renewals of 2.1 mills for police protection and 1 mill for the fire department. The 2021 five-year millage renewal will generate an estimated $772,800 for the police services and $368,000 for the fire department.
About 7 percent of registered voters turned out in 2017 to approve the renewals with 540 yes votes to 214 no votes.
The township established a contract with the Genesee County Sheriff’s Department about 20 years ago, funded then by 1 mill from area property owners.
Since 2007 the cost for police protection has risen from about $432,205 per year to the current cost for coverage of $611,085 per year. The previous two-year agreement was for $599,780 which increased by about 2 percent over the 2018 agreement. The new contract was effective Jan. 1, 2021 through Dec. 31, 2022 with the sheriff department and includes four deputies along with funding for a detective-sergeant, split between Fenton and the township.
The Genesee County Sheriff Department budget was cut by $2.8 million this past year by the county commissioners, said Sheriff Chris Swanson