LANSING -- Lansing voters today defeated a ballot proposal that would have cleared the way for the City Council to pass a four-mill property tax increase and, in doing so, save dozens of police and fire jobs.
The measure asks voter to lift the cap on the city's taxing authority imposed by the 1978 Headlee Amendment, taking it from 19.16 mills to 20 for the next five years.
That would have allowed the City Council to go forward with a plan to raise the property tax rate from 15.44 mills to 19.44, an increase of $4 for every $1,000 of a property’s taxable value.
That would have raised $8.9 million, $400,000 of which would have been absorbed by tax increment financing authorities.
Mayor Virg Bernero has said that without the additional money, the Police Department will lose 78 of its 326 positions, three fire stations will close and the Fire Department will shed 71 of its 225 positions.
With it, 44 police jobs, 36 jobs in the fire department and two fire stations would be spared.
