By David Fleet

Editor

Atlas Twp.

– Polls will be open from 7 a.m.-8 p.m., May 2 for Genesee County and township voters who will decide on a police/fire millage renewal and a 9-1-1 surcharge hike.

Earlier this year the township board of trustees OK’d ballot questions for renewals of 2.1 mills for police protection and 1 mill for the fire department. If approved by voters, the five-year millage will generate about $620,000 for police services and $294,000 for the fire department.

Township Supervisor Tere Onica explained the millage is based on a township taxable value of about $305 million. Onica added that the current township police millage expired December 2016.

“Township residents are getting a great value for their money,” said Onica. “Our current (police) contract is $586,000. There’s overtime that has to be planned for and we want to be conservative yet realistic in our cost estimates. The deputies do an excellent job—they like what they do and have protected our community. If it (the contract) increases beyond our funding we’ll have to start paying out of our general fund.”

The township established a contract with the Genesee County Sheriff’s Department about 17 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 $565,500 in 2017, about a 35 percent increase. In comparison, residents of Vienna Township pay about $1 million a year for eight deputies to cover the area, while Fenton Township funds about $667,655 each year for five full-time deputies and a part-time detective. Hurley Medical Center in Flint also has a contract for five deputies, the Genesee Intermediate School District has a deputy along with a K-9, and the Genesee Health System also has a deputy.

The 2.1 mills was approved in 2014, by a 576 yes to 382 no vote replacing a 1 mill levy along with $50 for improved lots and $25 for unimproved lots that expired in 2012.

In addition to the police service renewal, a ballot question proposing an increase in the 9-1-1 surcharge to fund the county’s communication center. Currently the 9-1-1 surcharge for all county residents is $1.24 per month for each communication device. If the proposal passes, the charge increased to $1.86 per device each month. The 62 cent hike is needed for the Genesee County 9-1-1- Consortium to update technology for fire and police departments.

According to the consortium, all 800 MHz radios within every jurisdiction in Genesee County are at the end of their life cycle and are no longer supported by Motorola. The estimated replacement cost is $7,700,300 based on current State of Michigan bid pricing. The fire paging system upgrade to 800MHz or a replacement of the VHF system is an estimated cost of $500,000.