The City of Howell held their third of four informational meetings in preparation for a Headlee Amendment override request in November.

City staff and officials held the meeting for residents at the Livingston Educational Service Agency building, Tuesday night. Howell, like many others in the state, has had a difficult time recovering from the 2008 recession. Because of the Headlee Amendment and the way it works with Prop A, which limits the increase of taxable value on homes, the city can only draw roughly 15.5 mills of their authorized 20 from residents. Paired with State Shared Revenues that are still below 2002 levels, the city is in need of raising revenue to maintain services and roads. On Election Day, they are asking citizens to restore the lost 4.5-mills for the next five years, via a Headlee Override.

Residents attending the meeting got to visit various breakout stations and speak with city leaders on what passing the override would mean. City Manager Shea Charles said this chance to connect with residents is important for helping them explain and understand how they got to this point. If the override is approved, it would generate roughly $1.4-million per year for the next 5 years. Homeowners owning a house with the average taxable value of $70,000 would see their city taxes go up $315 per year. This would be used primarily on roads and infrastructure. Around 20% would be used to correct a deficit and maintain city services at their present level. Failing the override could mean a reduction in services like road repair, police protection, snow removal, park maintenance, and curbside leaf pick up. The 4th and final public information meeting is scheduled for Wednesday, October 24th, at 7pm at the LESA Building.

More information can be found online at www.cityofhowell.org/headlee.

Charles invited anyone with questions to send him an email at scharles@cityofhowell.org. (MK)