vote yes
eaton county
TAX LIMITATION
PROPOSAL
PUBLIC SAFETY
✦
JUSTICE
✦
SECURITY
✦
COMMUNITY
✦
LAW & ORDER
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PUBLIC SAFETY ✦ JUSTICE ✦ SECURITY ✦ COMMUNITY ✦ LAW & ORDER ✦
Eaton County is asking voters to consider a Tax Limitation Proposal that would allow the County to levy an additional 3.0 mills for critical services. Each year, the Board of Commissioners decides how much it will levy residents. This proposal offers them the option to levy more during the budget cycle if it is needed, but does not mandate it.
Why is the County asking?
BECAUSE WITHOUT IT A QUARTER OF THE WORKFORCE WILL BE CUT.
That means staff from the Prosecutor & Sheriff Offices to Veteran Services & the Clerk are in danger. We cannot let that happen.
vote yes for our communities.
vote yes for our county’s future.
Click below to see what this increase will cost you:
prosecutor’s office IS UNDERSTAFFED AND OVERWORKED.
Eaton County Prosecutor’s Office sees over 7,000 cases a year from every single law enforcement agency in the County, providing justice to victims across our communities. Without this proposal to cover expenses, they will lose staff and be forced to CHOOSE which cases they can prosecute due to limited resources. That will only further strain public safety in a way unseen in the history of Eaton County.
SHERIFF’S OFFICE IS FILLING SHIFTS WITH OVERTIME.
One of the services most likely to be impacted is Road Patrol because it is a non-mandated service. The Sheriff’s Office has been short 12 to 15 patrol deputies on the road. Deputies are filling shifts by working voluntary overtime. Worse yet, there are several cadets in training that will not be able to work for Eaton County if services are cut. These cuts will impact out-County residents and impact the Sheriff’s ability to provide contracted law enforcement services to Townships and communities as they provide today.
Every department and office is at risk
Technology Services, Veteran Services, the Courts, Animal Control, Emergency Management, and the County Clerk represent a small amount of the 34 departments that are at risk of losing their employees and ability to provide services. The County will have to consider lowering hours of operation and find services to eliminate or cut. What does that mean for you? Do you want a marriage license or Concealed Pistol License? Care about safe and secure elections? Need to meet with the Veteran Services Office? These reductions will decimate the County’s ability to provide these services to residents; services which for many are essential.
We must take care of our home.
vote yes for eaton county.
faqS
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The County has a history of making cuts, like it did in 2008 and 2017, but it has never come back to add positions once the economy improved. Without additional revenue, the County will be forced to make cuts in nearly every office, especially the big three: the Sheriff’s Office, the Prosecutor’s Office, and the Trial Courts. These three offices represent over 65% of the County’s budget. Any more reductions to these three will negatively impact the County's public safety ecosystem. Additional changes would be reducing the hours of operation, closing open positions, and not backfilling positions made vacant from turnover and retirements. The County may even have to resort to selling assets, such as buildings.
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The Prosecutor's Office sees over 7,000 cases a year from all 13 law enforcement agencies in the County- including cases from Charlotte, Delta Township, Lansing, Grand Ledge, and Eaton Rapids. In every case it is the Prosecutor's responsibility to provide equal access to justice for victims, but also for those who have been accused of a crime. These services, and many more, that the Prosecutor’s Office performs will be negatively impacted without additional revenue because the office will likely see staffing cuts. The Prosecutor's Office currently cannot fill positions, with open positions sitting vacant for months on end and staff leaving to work for surrounding counties and the state that pay more. Without appropriate staff, the County Prosecutor will have to pick and choose what cases they can prosecute because they will not have the staff necessary to do what needs to be done.
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The Sheriff's Office is only constitutionally mandated to provide a jail. What does that mean? If the County is forced to make significant staff reductions then one of the largest groups of employees impacted will be the Sheriff’s road patrol division. This reduction will impact coverage of both Out-County and Contracted Law Enforcement Services (provided to Delta Township, Windsor Township, Oneida Township, etc.) and many of the specialty programs they provide that the community has come to rely on. There is no path forward where these services are not cut, apart from securing additional revenue to support County operations. A complete loss of Out-County road patrol and law enforcement contracts will be devastating for our communities and represent the single largest reduction in law enforcement services in Eaton County history. The Sheriff's Office has struggled with being underpaid and forced to fill gaps in shift coverage with overtime. The combination of being underpaid and overworked has contributed to a steady hemorrhaging of deputies to other higher-paying counties and police agencies in the mid-Michigan area. While improvements have been made, without additional revenue these gains may be lost.
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The Eaton County Sheriff's Office has been short 10 to 15 deputies for over 7 years. Every member - from the Road Patrol division, including those in the Command Unit - have been historically underpaid compared to other surrounding law enforcement agencies and counties. Given the demand on public safety and assuming every budgeted position was filled with a deputy, the Sheriff’s Office would still be understaffed. As our communities experience growth in industry and population the demands on public safety change with them. Given the constraints on resources, Eaton County has struggled to meet those demands and had to rely on overtime to provide the limited level of road patrol coverage available today.
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The County utilized COVID money, deferred maintenance and security projects, lowered pension benefits, and not filled positions, allowing it to balance its budget. Grants from the state and federal government have allowed the County to expand the Youth Facility and get a recycling trailer. The county also used energy-saving projects like a solar installation to save 30% on its monthly energy bills. Even with grant help and cost-saving measures, the County cannot keep up with its expenses.
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The County has passed continuation budgets for years, pushing necessary pay increases, maintenance projects, and security needs down the road. These projects, along with rising technology costs, pension obligations, and crumbling infrastructure have decimated the County budget.
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Technology Services provides tech support to every EMS, police, and fire agency in the County. The County Clerk runs on a skeleton crew. Veteran Services is understaffed and low on resources. The Courts are not able to staff the Youth Facility. The County Clerk is running elections on a skeleton crew that only survives thanks to overtime and countless extra hours. Almsot every office is working double-time to provide services. They need staff and they need resources, period. The County has been losing staff and its ability to serve residents year after year after year.
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No. The County has passed continuation budgets for over a decade, operating on skeleton crews and losing staff to higher-paying jobs across the state - from the Sheriff to the Prosecutor and administration. Every department is understaffed or filling shift coverage with overtime.
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Eaton County has roughly 34 departments and offices. The County Sheriff provides the Jail and road patrol, the County Courts cover divorces, PPOs, civil suits, and more. Register of Deeds and the Clerk provides marriage licenses, CPLs, and elections with integrity. Animal Control, planning and zoning, grants for communities, Veteran Services- these are just some of the critical services at risk at the County if this proposal were to fail. The County provides technology and tech support to every fire, EMS, and police agency, not just the County Sheriff. All of these services cost a lot of money and it is money the County does not have.
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First of all, the Road Commission is not a part of the County government. Without millages like the Parks Millage and 9-1-1 millage, Eaton County would have been out of money far sooner. The County has not asked or adjusted its operating revenue in almost 50 years, despite rising expenses and Headlee rollbacks.
SUPPORTERS
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I am respectfully asking you, our taxpayers, who have weathered so much these last few years, to support this millage.
Retired Eaton Rapids Mayor & Police Chief Paul Malewski
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We have to pay for what we value. I support this tax limitation proposal.
Delta Township Clerk Mary Clark
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Eaton County needs help to continue to provide the services and safety the public expects. I am voting yes this novemeber, so should you.
Eaton County Prosecutor Doug Lloyd
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We have to support this proposal, not just for my office, but for every office at the County.
Eaton County Sheriff Tom Reich
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There is no fat left to trim at the County. Join me and vote YES on the proposal, for the sake of our elections and employees
Eaton County Clerk Diana Bosworth
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This is essential for maintaining public safety and trust in our legal system.
Ingham County Prosecutor John Dewane
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We unanimously support this proposal for the sake of our employees and residents.
Eaton County Board of Commissioners
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Police Officers Association of Michigan
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Michigan Building Trades
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Michigan Laborers District Council
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IBEW Local Union 665
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Glaziers Local 826 IUPAT DC 1M
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Lansing Regional Chamber of Commerce
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UAW LOCAL 602