Following a series of special meetings last week, the Suttons Bay and Bingham township boards each adopted ballot language asking voters on May 8 to reconsider the decision a solid majority of voters made on Feb. 27.

During the February election, voters in both townships soundly rejected a 2.3-mill property tax levy to pay for operations of the Suttons Bay-Bingham Fire and Rescue Department.

However, voters in both townships narrowly approved a half-mil levy proposal on the same ballot to help pay for new fire trucks and other equipment for the department.

Officials of both townships have pointed out that the department might be able to buy trucks and other equipment as well as pay down the debt on the department’s new fire hall. But without the “operational” millage, there will be no way to pay for fuel to operate the trucks, no money to keep the lights on and the doors open at the fire hall, and no way to pay anyone to drive or man ambulances or other vehicles.

Township officials have suggested that voters may have been confused by the fact that there were two millage proposals on the Feb. 27 ballot. Officials have also acknowledged that a public information campaign they conducted prior to the election was poorly executed, and that offering two millage proposals on the same ballot may not have been a wise move politically.

The Feb. 27 election marked the first time that voters in Suttons Bay and Bingham townships voted as a unified “fire district” served by the newly created Suttons Bay-Bingham Fire and Rescue Authority that proposed the millages. Members of the fire authority board are the same elected and appointed township officials who previously served on the old “fire administrative board” overseen by the two township boards.

Because the fire authority board may not ask for another millage again this calendar year, it was up to the two township boards to again ask voters for the millage. In separate actions this week, the two township boards also agreed to sign contracts with the fire authority that will allow the authority to provide fire and rescue services to the two townships.

Officials say that unless voters in both townships approve the operational millage for fire and rescue on May 8, the department will likely run out of money by December 2007 and will cease operations.

Township officials say they do not know how residents of Suttons Bay and Bingham Townships would receive fire and ambulance service after funding for the department runs out. State law does not require townships to provide fire and rescue services to residents.

Township and fire authority officials insist that the department will not be able to provide the level of services it has been providing for several years unless up to 2.3-mills can be collected to pay for operations. In November 2006, voters approved a one-time, half-mill levy to ensure the department would not run out of money before the next round of taxes was collected.

In deciding on ballot language during a special meeting on March 7, members of the Bingham Township Board reversed a decision they made on March 5 to collect only 1.5-mills to fund department operations while making up the difference from the township’s general fund reserves.

Bingham treasurer Nicki Hursey said that, after she’d had an opportunity to study budget figures in more detail, it became clear that the township’s reserve funds would be eliminated in a very short time – something she termed “irresponsible,” according to meeting minutes.

Bingham clerk Peggy Core said that the 0.8-mill difference between the 1.5-mill collected for fire and rescue last year and the 2.3 mills would actually end up being only a .47-mill difference because the debt on bonds to pay off the fire hall would be reduced by .33 mills this year. The reduction in the millage to pay off the bonds will result from a shift in payments for utilities on the new fire hall from the building authority which was in charge of constructing the new fire hall to the fire authority which is now responsible for operating the hall.

Fire authority officials said they hoped to do a better job this time around of explaining issues to voters in both townships before the election.

If the 2.3-mill property tax is approved and levied in its entirety, it would raise $381,190 in Bingham township in 2007. In Suttons Bay Township, the same levy would raise $469,447. Both townships would be required to disburse the entire amount to the fire authority to pay for operations of the fire and rescue department.