LANSING, Mich. — Ingham County residents have several millages to vote on in the August primary and one of them is a renewal for Capital Area District Libraries.
The library millage, which went for four years, expired in December 2021.
“Without it, the library wouldn’t function,” said CADL Executive Director Scott Duimstra.
Voters will decide whether to approve the millage on Aug. 2.
“On the ballot in August, it's called our millage restore vote, and it’s our operational millage, so it pays for books you see behind me, it pays for staff, pays for the technology in our libraries, basically it pays for all the operations that we need to have a public library be open,” Duimstra said.
For the past two years, the millage had been reduced to 1.55 mills, but this renewal would restore it to what it originally was.
“It was reduced in 2020 and in 2021, due to the Headlee Rollback, and so we’re just asking for voters to restore it back up to, already voter approved in past elections, 1.56 mills,” Duimstra said.
Meaning a slight increase in taxes.
“So kind of for the average taxpayer with this millage in Ingham County, they would pay about $102 a year, so that increase from what it is now would be about 47 cents per year," Duimstra said. "So very small increase over the life of the millage, which is a four-year term.”
Duimstra said that 47 cents is a significant increase for the library.
“It’s about 50 to 60 thousand dollars a year in revenue that we need to provide library services,” Duimstra said.
The millage is distributed to all 13 Capital Area District Library locations.
“And to run our mobile library, to have our digital collections that you can access from your home and to have any other services that we have like the public WiFi that we have, the public computers that we have,” Duimstra said.
Duimstra said, while there's a few more weeks before election day, he's confident it'll pass.
“What we do as a library system, we circulate well over a million items a year, we have about, during pre-pandemic, over a million visits to our library, so it shows the value and the use that residents view for their library,” Duimstra said.
A complete list of millages on the August ballot in Ingham County can be found here.
Voters can submit a ballot absentee or vote at their registered precinct on Aug. 2 with polls opening at 7 a.m.
Want to see more local news? Visit the FOX47News Website.
Stay in touch with us anytime, anywhere.
Sign up for newsletters emailed to your inbox.
Select from these options: Neighborhood News, Breaking News, Severe Weather, School Closings, Daily Headlines, and Daily Forecasts.
