See which Kalamazoo County ballot proposals passed in Tuesday’s election

KALAMAZOO COUNTY, MI — Voters across Kalamazoo County decided on five ballot proposals Tuesday, Nov. 7.

Only one of those, the veterans millage, was on all ballots countywide.

The veterans millage passed with 31,502 votes in favor and 8,950 votes against, with 87 of 87 precincts reporting, according to unofficial final results.

The millage will raise more than $1 million a year for programs to support veterans and their families with assistance for food, transportation, housing and utilities.

The new 0.1-mill tax will help fund the Kalamazoo County Veterans Service Office for the next 10 years, raising taxes at an amount of $10 per year for a property with an estimated taxable value of $100,000. The veterans service office provides services and programs to more than 14,000 local veterans and their families.

Other ballot proposals decided on Tuesday included ranked choice voting in Kalamazoo, operations millages in Kalamazoo Township and the Parchment School District and a fire millage in Richland Township.

Here’s a look at each of the proposals and final unofficial results, according to the Kalamazoo County Clerk’s Office.

Ranked-choice voting passes

Residents of Kalamazoo voted in favor of changing how they elect the mayor and city commissioners in future elections, according to unofficial results.

A ranked-choice voting proposal on Kalamazoo ballots has unofficially passed, but it will not take effect unless state law changes to allow for it.

The ballot measure, which aims to allow people to rank their candidates in order of preference, was approved with 6,486 yes votes (71%) and 2,653 no votes (29%).

Ranked-choice voting forces a mayoral candidate to receive 50% of the vote to be elected. If no candidate reaches 50% in the initial count, the last-place candidate would be removed and those votes retallied.

Anyone who voted for the last-place candidate would then have their votes go to their second-ranked candidate instead. The process would repeat until a leading candidate reached 50%.

For commissioners -- with three winners elected every two years -- the process would call for each to meet an election threshold based on the number of candidates.

Ann Arbor and Ferndale have previously passed measures to make way for ranked-choice voting in their cities and Royal Oak and East Lansing both voted on it Tuesday and passed it as well.

“Instead of candidates winning with only a plurality of votes, sometimes a very small percent of all votes, ranked choice voting results in consensus and even majority-winning candidates,” said Frank Knapp Jr., Business for Democracy national director. “By letting voters rank their preference on the ballot, democracy is better served with the result.

“It is now time for Michigan legislators to allow municipalities to use ranked choice voting.”

Richland Township fire millage passes

Voters in Richland Township approved a new tax that will allow the township to fund fire protection equipment and operations, along with the purchase of a new fire engine.

According to unofficial results, the millage passed 946 to 731.

Township residents will see their tax bills increase by 0.8 mills for seven years — or at a rate of $80 per year for a home with a taxable value of $100,000. The millage is expected to bring in about $421,899 in year one.

Parchment School District operating millage passes

Voters in the Parchment School District voted on a tax proposal that will allow the district to continue to fund day-to-day operations.

With all precincts reporting, 900 voters were in favor of the millage and 655 were against.

The current mill levy, at 17.89 mills on non-homestead properties, was set to expire in 2024. With the passage of the new millage -- at 18 mills on rental homes, vacation properties, some vacant land and commercial/industrial properties -- the non-homestead millage would be extended 10 years through 2034.

Kalamazoo Township operations millage passes

Kalamazoo Township voters approved a millage renewal request that will allow the township to continue to fund general township operations for the next four years.

With all 10 precincts reporting, the millage was approved with 1,701 votes in favor and 1,361 against.

The millage, once it takes effect, will be levied at a slightly higher rate than the expiring operations millage. The new 8.961-millage rate will cost residents $8.97 per $1,000 of taxable value — or $896.91 for a property owner of a home with an estimated taxable value of $100,000.

The prior rate was $8.70 per $1,000 of taxable value, or $870.13 for a a home with an estimated taxable value of $100,000.

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