Oakland Press: We won Berkley, Troy Tax Votes!

Voters in Troy and Berkley nix tax hikes; Bloomfield Township voters barely approve one
Published: Wednesday, February 24, 2010

An unidentified Troy resident votes at his precinct, which was at the Troy Community Center. Voting precincts 26, 27, & 30 are located at this Center. Photo taken on Tuesday, February 23, 2010, in Troy, Mich. (The Oakland Press/Jose Juarez)




Rob Melrose, who is accompanied by a snowman which was made by an unknown student, stands outside of Precinct 3, located at Berkley High School, as he encourages people to vote Yes in today's election. Photo taken on Tuesday, February 23, 2010, in Berkley, Mich. (The Oakland Press/Jose Juarez)




An unidentified Berkley resident votes at Precinct 3, which was located at Berkley High School. Photo taken on Tuesday, February 23, 2010, in Berkley, Mich. (The Oakland Press/Jose Juarez)




Voters sign in to vote, and exit their precinct after voting, at the Troy Community Center. Seated at far left are precinct inspectors and the precinct chair. Voting precincts 26, 27, & 30 are located at this Center. Photo taken on Tuesday, February 23, 2010, in Troy, Mich. (The Oakland Press/Jose Juarez)




Troy resident Mike Kennedy votes at his precinct, which was at the Troy Community Center. Voting precincts 26, 27, & 30 are located at this Center. Photo taken on Tuesday, February 23, 2010, in Troy, Mich. (The Oakland Press/Jose Juarez)
By CHARLES CRUMM
Of The Oakland Press



An unidentified Troy resident votes at his precinct, which was at the Troy Community Center. Voting precincts 26, 27, & 30 are located at this Center. Photo taken on Tuesday, February 23, 2010, in Troy, Mich. (The Oakland Press/Jose Juarez)

Voters in Berkley Schools and Troy overwhelmingly rejected property tax increases Tuesday in a reflection of voter anger during troubling economic times and a possible referendum on the strength of the Tea Party movement.

In Bloomfield Township, voters approved a tax hike, but not without opposition.

Shields Pizza at Maple and Crooks roads in Troy Tuesday night was the scene of a “Vote No” party for tea partiers tracking — and opposing — property tax increases in all three jurisdictions.

“This is the Oakland County Vote No headquarters,” said Oakland County Tea Party organizer Glenn Clark. “This is the defacto headquarters for Troy, Berkley and Bloomfield.”

Berkley Schools by far asked for the largest property tax increase, a 4.27-mill hike for new schools and renovations to existing schools.

The school district educates students from Berkley, Oak Park, Huntington Woods and a small portion of Royal Oak.

Voters overwhelmingly rejected the request 5,439 to 2,393, or 69.45 percent to 30.55 percent.

Of the 18 precincts, the question passed in just three of them.

Troy’s proposed 1.9-mill increase was snuffed by voters in most of the city’s polling locations following spirited campaigns both for and against the proposed increase.

With 19 of 19 locations counted, no votes outnumbered yes votes 12,631 to 7,316.

City officials have argued that closing facilities and laying off employees, including police and firefighters, was likely without the millage.

But opposition to the additional taxes galvanized around the Oakland County Tea Party and Troy Citizens United who argued — apparently successfully — that the city needs to cut nonessential services and facilities before seeking higher taxes.

“I would say if the City Council comes back again and asks for another large tax hike, there will be a lot of angry citizens,” Clark said. “The trend here is clear. People don’t want this kind of silliness happening in Troy.”

Bloomfield Township voters, meanwhile, approved a 1.3-mill property tax for 10 years for operating purposes. The ballot question won 5,647 votes to 5,014 votes, or a margin of 52.97 percent to 47.03 percent.

The estimated revenue for township government in the first year of the tax is $4,518,650. The owner of a home with a $100,000 taxable value will pay $130 more a year.

Failure to pass the millage would have meant staff cuts in township government, said township Supervisor David Payne.

“I’m not surprised that it was close,” Payne said. “I can say that we are committed to cutting costs and reducing expenses moving forward. We will work to keep costs as low as possible while delivering high-quality public safety and the other public services.”

Clark, however, said activists against the millage in Bloomfield Township didn’t really get rolling until a week ago and predicted a backlash against township officeholders, possibly in the form of recall elections.

“A lot of grassroots people are ticked off,” Clark said. “There’s a six-letter word that starts with an R and ends with an L. In the general scope, today’s results are going to provide more activists in the 2010 election.”

Voter turnout is typically low in February elections but more than 32 percent of Bloomfield Township’s registered voters cast ballots at the township’s 29 precincts.

The millage question actually lost among people who cast ballots Tuesday by a 2,637 to 2,366 margin. But there were more absentee voters and they overwhelmingly approved the tax increase 3,281 to 2,377, pushing the totals to the “Yes” side of the question.

http://www.theoaklandpress.com/articles/2010/02/24/news/local_news/doc4b85370d9cd43680272539.txt