Public radio from Western Michigan University 102.1 NPR News | 89.9 Classical WMUK
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations
Interviews with news makers and discussion of topics important to Southwest Michigan. Subscribe to the podcast through Apple itunes and Google. Segments of interview are heard in WestSouthwest Brief during Morning Edition and All Things Considered

WSW: Education Millage Renewal, Dispatch Proposal On Tuesday's Ballot

Voters in Kalamazoo have two questions before them on the ballot Tuesday. One is a renewal request for School districts in the Kalamazoo area, another would create a fee on phones to pay for consolidated dispatch.

WMUK’s Sehvilla Mann joined Gordon Evans to explain the two ballot proposals.

The education millage is a renewal of 1.5-mills to pay for operations in the nine school districts in the Kalamazoo Regional Educational Service Agency. A three-year renewal is being requested. The Millage was first approved by voters in 2005, and was renewed in 2008, 2011 and 2014.

The tax amounts to about $75 a year on a home with a market value of $100,000. The money is distributed to the districts on a per-pupil basis. There is no organized opposition to the KRESA millage.

The campaign for and against a fee to pay for consolidated dispatch has heated up in recent weeks. If approved the $2.30 charge on each device that can call 911 (landline and mobile phones) would pay for creating an independent dispatch authority.

The city of Kalamazoo, Kalamazoo County and Kalamazoo Township already share space in one dispatch center. Those three entities, the city of Portage and Western Michigan University would be part of the consolidated dispatch authority.

Gordon Evans became WMUK's Content Director in 2019 after more than 20 years as an anchor, host and reporter. A 1990 graduate of Michigan State, he began work at WMUK in 1996.
Sehvilla Mann joined WMUK’s news team in 2014 as a reporter on the local government and education beats. She covered those topics and more in eight years of reporting for the Station, before becoming news director in 2022.
Related Content