Detroit News: Good Guys Win Tax Vote in Troy

Absentee voters tip the scales in Troy, Bloomfield Twp.
Jennifer Chambers / The Detroit News
Absentee voters played a key role in tax increase requests that met opposite fates Tuesday in two Oakland County communities -- approval in Bloomfield Township and a thumbs-down in Troy.

In Bloomfield, absentee voters -- more than 3,200 -- are credited for turning a losing tax request into a winning one. They apparently heeded pleas by township officials who said they would lay off nearly 50 employees -- including police and firefighters -- unless the tax was approved.

Township Supervisor David Payne said absentee voters have always taken elections seriously. More than 90 percent of all requested absentee ballots are returned, he said.

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"They are people who have been in the community for a long time, and they are knowledgeable," Payne said.

Bloomfield's request for a 1.3 mill increase to fund police, fire and emergency services appeared doomed late Tuesday night based on results from 28 precincts that showed the measure failing 2,637 to 2,366.

But once absentee ballots were counted, which added 3,281 yes votes, the outcome flipped and the tax request passed by nearly 53 percent.

In Troy, efforts by tax opponents to reach absentee voters helped defeat a 1.9 mill tax hike: 4,234 absentee voters said no to higher taxes.

Absentee voter Evan Ericson rejected the measure because he thinks the city has been careless with spending and attempted to scare residents with the threat of city service closures and layoffs.

"We felt as through enough is enough. We all have to cut back and pinch our pennies," Ericson, 70, said.

Anti-tax forces obtained absentee voters lists in Troy and organized phone banks and printed literature to mail to nearly 7,000 absentee voter households in Troy, Glenn Clark of the Oakland County Tea Party group, said Wednesday.

The millage request went down, 12,631 to 7,316.

"When voters get the information, the truth is powerful," Clark said.

Clark said while there was some efforts by Tea Party members to rally the no vote in Bloomfield Township, organizers there did not specifically target absentee voters.

Troy officials are expected to get to work preparing recommendations to cut $6.2 million from the next budget and begin constructing a two-year budget cycle.

The city will still consider closing its library, nature center, community center and museum and lay off 47 police officers after voters rejected the tax hike, Mayor Louise Schilling said Wednesday, but no changes are planned immediately.



From The Detroit News: http://www.detnews.com/article/20100225/METRO02/2250397/1409/metro/Absentee-voters-tip-the-scales-in-Troy--Bloomfield-Twp.#ixzz0gcFQfceE