By James Hanlon
Leader Staff Writer
As part of a resolution to approve the 2021-2022 budget, the Oxford Village Council voted 3-2 to raise the property tax rate by half a mill at its May 11 meeting. Council members Allison Kemp, Ashley Ross and Maureen Helmuth voted yes, while Village President Kelsey Cooke and Councilmember Lori Bourgeau voted no.
This is the first tax increase since 2010, when the council raised the rate from 10.12 to 10.62. The new millage rate to be levied July 1, 2021 is 11.12. One mill is equal to $1 for every $1,000 of a property’s taxable value.
The median home taxable value will see an increase of about $40 per year, according to Clerk/Treasurer Tere Onica. In total, the additional .5 mill will generate about $61,000, which will be restricted to road repair and maintenance
“Any millage increase would provide additional funding for infrastructure and avoid taking on more debt,” Onica and Village Manager Joe Madore wrote in a memo to council ahead of the hearing. “As we shed the Village of past bond debt, we will be in a better financial position to set aside general fund money for roads, parking lots and other needed infrastructure maintenance, but the allowable tax rate under Headlee will continue to roll back every year.” The maximum millage rate allowed under the Headlee Amendment is 12.89.
The total 2021-22 budget is $1,986,023.15. The millage will generate $1,252,606 in real property tax and $50,450 from personal property tax revenues, according to the budget.
President Cooke first made a motion to maintain the millage at its current rate. The motion failed 3-2.
“I think increasing the taxes at this time is too much for the residents because we don’t know what’s coming from the township that we also pay,” she said. “We’re going to need to increase the water bills because of the lead service lines that need to be replaced – that’s something that I think, anyway, we should increase. So that’s going to be an additional expense to our residents. We have a lot of residents on fixed incomes. They carefully budget for their taxes.”
The extra revenue will help the village pay for a road and water service line improvement project on Hudson Street and road replacement for a section of Park Street. Manager Madore said now is a good time to do this work, since some of the village’s bonds have been paid off and the water line work is required by the state.
The projected cost for water main and service replacements on Hudson Street is $210,000. This will take the village one step closer to compliance with the changes to the Michigan Lead and Copper Rules requiring communities to fully inventory and update any lines with lead pipes by 2041. Any service lines with lead components must be fully replaced by 2025.
The Hudson Street road construction will cost $275,000. The village is applying for a Transportation Economic Development Fund grant through MDOT, to match 50 percent of the cost.
The work on Park Street does not include any water service lines, but the road is in desperate need of repair. Approximately 600 feet of street from Jersey Street to the dead end will be replaced. The projected cost is $90,000.
Cooke acknowledged the need “to continue to work on our roads because they need to be done and it really improves the value of the homes and the value of the community overall,” but noted the potential for federal funding coming down the pipe from the American Rescue Plan and infrastructure bills President Joe Biden is working on with Congress. “I’d like to see us get through this year and see what kind of money comes into the village that we can use for roads before raising taxes for roads,” she said.
Helmuth said the village has no extra money to make any improvements. “We’re going to have to replace those water leads,” she said. “We’re going to do road work for that. We can’t just have a zero budget. Just take half a mill, take a breath, and see what that brings in and see how far that gets us. No one knows what’s coming down from anywhere – the State of Michigan, the federal government – no one knows, it’s all a mystery. I just think our budget needs at least a half a mill.”
Ross said, “Investing in infrastructure is a solid plan. It’s only going to help the community. At the same time, it’s a challenging time for many folks. I do not feel comfortable proceeding with the budget doing Park Street if we did not have some sort of guaranteed increase.”
She also said she did not feel comfortable with a one mill increase, but felt “semi-comfortable” with a half mill. “And I know that we’ve been hearing from residents that roads are a concern.”
Kemp agreed. “Unfortunately, I think half a mill is the right choice for the time. I mean, if we’re doing both Hudson and Park Street, that empties our local road fund. I think we have to invest in infrastructure. I think it’s been a long time the tax has been lowered . . . in 2010, it hasn’t been raised since. And in that time we’ve seen our infrastructure degrade and it needs to be brought back up so we can all enjoy the roads we love in our community.”
Bourgeau sided with Cooke. “At this point in time, it looks like we’re going to be passing this (marijuana) ordinance, and I thought the benefit is supposed to be the money increase. I’d be comfortable waiting to see what happens with that before any kind of tax increase. I thought about it after our last budget meeting and I’d just like to see what happens. I’m fine with leaving it for now.”
However, Bourgeau doesn’t think there is much help coming from outside the village. “There are certain grants that are out there for infrastructure and they don’t include the local roads. That’s why this is a consideration at this point in time. To do a lot of the roads in our village, it would need to come from our budget, rather than from any federal funds.”
The 11.12 millage rate only impacts village residents. Since Oxford Township’s fiscal year matches the calendar year, it approves its budgets and millage rates in the fall.