A RESOLUTION CERTIFYING TO THE WASHTENAW COUNTY CLERK BALLOT
LANGUAGE FOR A VETERANS MILLAGE OF ONE TENTH (1/10) OF A MILL FOR EIGHT
YEARS TO BE PLACED ON NOVEMBER 8, 2016 ELECTION BALLOT
WASHTENAW COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS
July 6, 2016
WHEREAS, veteran services in Washtenaw County are overseen and provided by the County
Department of Veterans Affairs; and
WHEREAS, such services range from assisting a veteran to obtain eligible benefits to securing
burial benefits for a veteran’s family; and
WHEREAS, the County Department of Veterans Affairs is overseen by the Veterans Affairs
Committee which is comprised of five members, each of whom is an honorably discharged
veteran; and
WHEREAS, since the fall of 2008, the funding of indigent veteran claims has been funded
pursuant to P.A. 214 of 1899 (MCLA 35.21) which authorizes a county to levy up to 1/10th of a
mill (2/10ths of a mill in wartime) to fund claims from eligible indigent veterans and their
dependents, with the remaining costs of the County Department of Veterans Affairs being
funded by the County’s general fund; and
WHEREAS, in the fall of 2015, the Michigan Attorney General opined that while pre-Headlee
authorized tax levies such as the Indigent Veteran Levy may not be subject to the vote
requirement under the Headlee Amendment to the Michigan Constitution, such taxes still may
not exceed a county’s constitutional mill limits of Article 9, Section 6; and
WHEREAS, earlier this year, Taxpayers United Michigan Foundation and three County citizens
sued the County alleging, in part, that the County’s levying of un-voted millages such as the
Indigent Veterans Millage, violates the Headless Amendment to the Constitution and should be
enjoined; and
WHEREAS, that litigation, which is currently pending in the Michigan Court of Appeals,
prompted County officials, along with the County Department of Veterans Affairs, to examine
alternative means to fund not only the indigent veterans mandate under Michigan law, but also
the complete operational costs to run the Department of Veterans Affairs; and
WHEREAS, several other Michigan counties currently operate their entire veteran services,
including the cost of paying eligible indigent veteran claims, by means of a voter-approved
millage; and
WHEREAS, voter approval of a veterans millage would create a dedicated funding stream for all
veteran services within Washtenaw County, including indigent veteran claims, without relying on
the County general fund to pay for such services; and
WHEREAS, the County Department of Veterans Affairs, with the full support of County
Administration, is proposing that an eight-year millage of 1/10th of a mill designed to fund all
aspects of county veteran services, including eligible indigent veteran claims, be presented to
Washtenaw County voters at the November 8, 2016 general election.
NOW THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the Washtenaw County Board of Commissioners
states as follows:
1. There shall be submitted to the electors of the County of Washtenaw at the general
election to be held on the eighth (8th) day of November, 2016 from 7:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m.
prevailing time, the following proposition:
“Shall the limitation on the amount of taxes which may be assessed each year for all purposes
on real and tangible personal property in Washtenaw County, Michigan be increased as
provided in Article 9, Section 6 of the Michigan Constitution and the Board of Commissioners of
the County be authorized to levy a tax not to exceed one tenth of one mill ($0.10 per $1,000) of
state equalized valuation of such property for eight (8) years beginning with the December 1,
2016 tax levy (which will generate estimated revenues of $1,535,993 in the first year of the
millage) for the purpose of funding Washtenaw County’s obligation to provide financial relief and
services for Washtenaw County veterans, including the payment of eligible indigent veteran
claims, and to fund the administration of the Washtenaw County Department of Veterans
Affairs?
YES ____
NO ____
2. The election shall be held in accordance with Chapter XXVII of the general election laws
of the State of Michigan.
3. The Washtenaw County Clerk is hereby requested to carry out all appropriate statutory
duties as set forth in this Resolution and the general election laws of the State of
Michigan so that the question of adoption may be submitted to the voters on November
8, 2016.
4. The Washtenaw County Board of Commissioners hereby certifies to the County Clerk
the following question as the appropriate ballot wording for the November 8, 2016
general election for the above-stated proposition:
PROPOSITION TO INCREASE THE TAX LIMITATION FOR THE COUNTY DEPARTMENT OF
VETERANS AFFAIRS FOR THE PURPOSE OF FUNDING WASHTENAW COUNTY’S
OBLIGATION TO PROVIDE FINANCIAL RELIEF AND SERVICES FOR WASHTENAW
COUNTY VETERANS, INCLUDING THE PAYMENT OF ELIGIBLE INDIGENT VETERAN
CLAIMS, AND TO FUND THE OPERATION OF THE WASHTENAW COUNTY DEPARTMENT
OF VETERANS AFFAIRS
“Shall the limitation on the amount of taxes which may be assessed each year for all purposes
on real and tangible personal property in Washtenaw County, Michigan be increased as
provided in Article 9, Section 6 of the Michigan Constitution and the Board of Commissioners of
the County be authorized to levy a tax not to exceed one tenth of one mill ($.0.10 per $1,000) of
state equalized valuation of such property for eight (8) years beginning with the December 1,
2016 tax levy (which will generate estimated revenues of $1,535,993 in the first year of the
millage) for the purpose of funding Washtenaw County’s obligation to provide financial relief and
services for Washtenaw County veterans, including the payment of eligible indigent veteran
claims, and to fund the administration of the Washtenaw County Department of Veterans
Affairs?
YES ____
NO ____
Each city and township clerk shall give appropriate notice of the submission of the aforesaid
proposition as provided by law which notice shall contain the statement of the Washtenaw
County Treasurer as to previously voted tax limitation increases affecting property within
Washtenaw County.
COMMISSIONER
Y
Brabec
N
A
COMMISSIONER
Y
X
Ping
X
LaBarre
X
Rabhi
X
Martinez-Kratz
X
Jamnick
Peterson
X
Conan Smith
CLERK/REGISTER’S CERTIFICATE - CERTIFIED COPY
STATE OF MICHIGAN
)
COUNTY OF WASHTENAW)SS.
N
A
COMMISSIONER
Y
Dan Smith
X
N
X
X
ROLL CALL VOTE:
7 1 1
I, Lawrence Kestenbaum, Clerk/Register of said County of Washtenaw and Clerk
of Circuit Court for said County, do hereby certify that the foregoing is a true and accurate
copy of a resolution adopted by the Washtenaw County Board of Commissioners at a
session held at the County Administration Building in the City of Ann Arbor, Michigan,
on July 6th, 2016, as it appears of record in my office.
In Testimony Whereof, I have hereunto set my hand and affixed the seal of said
Court at Ann Arbor, this 7th day of July, 2016.
LAWRENCE KESTENBAUM, Clerk/Register
BY:______________________________________
Deputy Clerk
Res. No. 16-106
A