WASHTENAW COUNTY, MI – The long-standing parks and recreation milage in Washtenaw County is up for renewal in the Aug. 6 primary election.
Voters are being asked to approve the tax first approved in the 1970s for another 10 years. The tax supports funding for new parks projects in the county, while also helping maintain the current county parks and recreation centers.
The 0.25-mill tax is estimated to bring $5.7 million in the first year to the county parks department and restores the full millage levied, which has been reduced to .2387-mills due to the Headlee Amendment to the state constitution, which limits increases in taxes collected to the rate of inflation.
Though the current millage doesn’t expire until 2026, waiting until then for the renewal would lead to the postponement of more than $10 million in projects, Parks and Recreation Commission Director Coy Vaughn previously said.
If approved, the estimated cost to residents is 25 cents per $1,000 in taxable value, meaning a house worth $200,000 will pay $50 a year.
The millage allows the Washtenaw County Parks and Recreation Commission to acquire, develop and maintain parkland and recreation facilities in the county’s system of 16 parks and 37 nature preserves covering some 8,000 acres, according to a county memo.
Washtenaw County Parks and Recreation currently oversees 12 parks, a recreation center, a golf course, a water park, 37 nature preserves and more.
A list of projects completed using funds from the previous tax, and a list of future projects that could be completed with a new tax in place can be found here.
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