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.