City of Fenton recently issued the following announcement.
City of Fenton Mayor Sue Osborn thanked voters Tuesday for passing a millage proposal that, over the next decade or so, will improve almost all of the neighborhood streets that were rated as “poor” in an engineering study earlier this year. The proposal passed by a vote of 1,041 to 694, meaning “yes” won about 59% of the vote.
The results are preliminary and will be certified in coordination with the county.
“For a long time, the state of our streets has been the No. 1 complaint from our residents,” she said.” We greatly appreciate the voters’ trust and the mandate they’ve given us to move forward to make Fenton even better than it is.”
The plan calls for the city to borrow an amount not to exceed $24 million via bonds sold in three series. Each series would be paid back over no more than 10 years and 3 months. The estimated millage to be levied in 2022 would be 3.50 mills ($3.50 per $1,000 of taxable value). Over the life of the program, the average annual millage rate would be 3.03. The average homeowner with a taxable value of about $76,000 would pay $266 more in the first year.
City officials, citing numbers provided by OHM, the city’s engineering consultants, said that the proposal would result in fixing 90% to 95% or more of the city’s streets that are rated as “poor.
At three community informational meetings and in mailings sent to every Fenton household, City Manager Lynn Markland stressed that the program is front-loaded, generating more money earlier than in previous proposals. That means more streets can be improved earlier also.
Markland had also stressed that due to state funding limitations, millages are how Michigan’s cities are maintaining and improving their streets. As of 2021, 73 cities in Michigan either renewed millages that were already in place or approved new millages for street repairs.
With the voters’ approval, OHM will begin to work with Fenton’s Department of Public Works to plan the schedule of work, which will include taking care of sewer and water line improvements at the same time as a street is improved.
It was the third time since 2017 that the city had a street-improvement proposal on the ballot.
Tuesday’s election also saw the following:
- Mayor Sue Osborn was re-elected to a two-year term
- City Council Members Tracy Bottecelli, Scott Grossmeyer and David McDermott were re-elected to four-year terms.
Alerts Sign-up