By Joseph Goral
Staff Writer
jgoral@mihomepaper.com
OXFORD TWP. — Oxford Township and Village of Oxford voters will consider a millage increase to support safety path work on their Nov. 5 general election ballots.
If approved, the increase would be up to .5 mills, which is 50 cents per $1,000 of all taxable property in the township, and will be levied from 2024 through 2033.
Oxford Township Treasurer Joe Ferrari, chair of the township’s Safety Path Committee, said there are many people who would like to see the system extended along Seymour Lake Road, and that doing so would be a large undertaking that would take many years to save money for without a millage.
This is because the township currently expands and adjusts the safety path system as money becomes available.
“Having a dedicated millage to allow for that would allow that to happen a little bit quicker,” Ferrari said. “We’d be able to save money each year to be able to get that project moving along.”
The millage would be used for “financing the construction, maintenance, repair, and replacement of a network of safety paths, trails, and boardwalks and the acquisition of rights-of-way for said safety paths for purposes of providing additional recreational opportunities and safe routes to schools, parks, and neighborhoods in the Township,” according to the ballot proposal language.
The proposal is estimated to collect up to $611,484.02 in its first year, if approved and levied. According to state law, the millage would disperse a portion of revenue to the Village of Oxford’s DDA.
“The whole goal is to have interconnectivity where somebody could … take their bike or walk over to the township park,” Ferrari said.
Ferrari said the township has copies of the safety path master plan in its office. The millage was put on the November ballot because it is anticipated to have a larger turnout than others – meaning the township will have a better idea of what the community wants.
The Oxford Township Board of Trustees approved the millage’s language during a meeting on April 10, in a 5-1 vote. Trustee Rod Charles cast the lone nay vote, and Trustee Margaret Payne was absent from the meeting.