School Improvements, Parks, And EMS: A Rundown Of Leelanau Ballot Proposals In A (Mostly) Quiet Fall Election

It’s a quiet election season in Leelanau County. While action around next year’s presidential election will kick into high gear soon (Michigan’s primary is Tuesday, February 27) those days aren’t quite here yet. The ballot this fall also isn’t as busy as last year’s, which saw multiple county commission seats change hands, votes on controversial development projects, and multiple millage asks.

Still, while some Leelanau County villages and townships don’t even have election matters to worry about, there are a small number of notable ballot proposals up for decision on Tuesday, November 7. 

Glen Lake Community Schools Bond Proposal

What is it: Glen Lake Community Schools is seeking voter approval for a $36 million bond to fund considerable capital improvements for school facilities, security, and more.

Speaking to the Leelanau Ticker back in May, Glen Lake Superintendent Jason Misner said the district’s facilities needed to be brought “into a 21st century environment,” citing everything from a steam boiler heating system from 1957 to insufficient storage space. At the time, the district had enlisted the services of architectural agency TowerPinkster and construction firm Christman to create potential building mockups, based on feedback from community forums.

Those designs helped the district firm up an estimated $36.5 million budget for its facilities overhaul. Per the district’s bond website, that includes dollars for campus infrastructure improvements, safety and security upgrades, and student experience enhancements.

Improvements include new boilers and new HVAC equipment, air conditioning in all classrooms, additional “instructional technology assets,” new electrical distribution “to support the increased use of technology” on campus, a revamped “lobby and assembly space for student and community use,” an updated kitchen and cafeteria, a new “single-point secured entry that incorporates new high school offices” (rendering pictured), a redesigned parking lot and parent drop-off for “improved access and flow,” modernized restrooms, and extra “wayfinding measures” throughout campus, such as a new “welcoming canopy” and fresh signage at the entrance to the building.

If passed, the proposal would represent not just the first bond in years for Glen Lake Community Schools, but also a historic bond for Leelanau County as a whole. The largest bond in county history is the $24.6 million proposal from Leland Public Schools voters approved in 2018. That gave Leland’s schools the funds to build a new gym and a new elementary school, which opened in 2021. The Glen Lake Community Schools bond is over $10 million more than the Leland Public Schools bond.

Per ballot language, the bond would increase the millage rate for affected townships by 1.75 mills in the first year of levy (2024) – equivalent to $1.75 in extra taxes for every $1,000 of taxable value. The measure is on the ballot in six townships throughout Leelanau County: Centerville, Cleveland, Empire, Glen Arbor, Kasson, and Solon.

City of Traverse City Proposals

What is it: For most voters in Leelanau County, the Glen Lake Community Schools bond is the only real issue of substance on the ballot. The exception is for those in the most southeastern part of the county, who will cast ballots as part of the City of Traverse City. In addition to mayoral and city commission races, there are three proposals facing city voters this fall.

Proposals 1 and 2

These two proposals both have to do with Brown Bridge Quiet Area, a popular 1,300-acre parkland which the City of Traverse City owns – despite Brown Bridge being 11 miles southeast of the city itself. The city has an opportunity to grow Brown Bridge Quiet area significantly, hence the two proposals.

The expansion would come from two different land acquisitions – one encompassing 228 acres of land currently owned by the Elmer J. Mueller Land Trust and the other including 300 acres owned by Rotary Camps & Services. Both properties are located directly north of the current Brown Bridge Quiet Area boundaries.

Proposal 1 would “delete” a $250,000 single-expenditure limit that exists to regulate “Brown Bridge Trust Fund expenditures for parkland and/or city park capital improvements.” Established in 2019, that rule limits how money in the trust fund – which amounts to more than $11.5 million in oil and gas revenues, earned from the active oil wells located on the Brown Bridge Quiet Area property – can be spent.

Proposal 2 is contingent upon the passage of Proposal 1, as it would authorize the expenditure of “not-to-exceed $746,245.00” from the Brown Bridge Trust Fund, for the purposes of purchasing the aforementioned properties. If both proposals are approved, the City of Traverse City will use Brown Bridge Trust Fund dollars as a match for a $2,352,200 Natural Resources Trust Fund grant. The Proposal 2 expenditure is contingent upon those grant funds, which have not yet been confirmed.

Proposal 3

This “millage proposal for fire department and emergency transportation services” would increase property taxes in the City of Traverse City by up to 1 mill ($1 per thousand dollars of taxable value) for a 20-year period, with the goal of providing funds “for fire department and emergency transportation services and facilities.” If passed, the proposal would make Traverse City Fire Department (TCFD) the sole ambulance provider within city limits.

TCFD provides first-response EMS services in Traverse City, while another operator – Mobile Medical Response (MMR) – serves the primary role of transporting patients to the hospital. TCFD recently told the Traverse City Ticker that this current “tiered model” is stretching the department too thin, and argued that having a well-funded single-provider model would enable faster response times, better EMT-patient relationships, and an all-around streamlined system.

MMR, meanwhile, argues the tiered system is effective for Traverse City, noting that acting just as a first reponse EMS agency “allows TCFD to be available for the next call, whether that be fire or medical, and not risk being out of service at the hospital for an extended timeframe.” MMR also questions whether a millage model is a fair way to fund ambulance services. As a primary ambulance provider, MMR’s services are paid for by the patient’s health insurance coverage. TCFD, meanwhile, gets no insurance compensation for its first response efforts, unless it transports a patient to the hospital.

“A millage to have TCFD continue to care for residents and provide medical transportation to the hospital creates a situation where everyone pays via a tax subsidy, not just those who utilize the service,” MMR wrote in a statement on its website.

If the millage passes, TCFD predicts the average homeowner would pay an extra $10.71 per month in property taxes. The millage levy would raise approximately $1,173,500 in its first year, with that money helping cover “startup costs” for TCFD – such as purchasing a new ambulance and staffing 10 new positions. From there, TCFD expects the millage levy would decrease substantially over time, as the department would be able to collect health insurance payouts as a primary ambulance provider.