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Mount Clemens residents and business owners assail proposed 38% property tax increase at budget hearing
Summary
Residents packed the Mount Clemens public hearing on the proposed 2016 budget to oppose a proposed jump in the city millage rate from 15.9946 to 22.1274 (a 6.1322‑mil increase, about 38.3%). Speakers pressed commissioners for clearer revenue projections and more public review before adoption on May 18.
Mount Clemens — Hundreds of pages of budget documents and a packed public hearing on May 4 produced sustained voter anger and a call for more scrutiny after city administration proposed raising the city millage from 15.9946 to 22.1274.
Rick Block, a resident who reviewed the documents with city staff, said the draft budget relies on optimistic revenue projections, especially for the city’s pension fund. “We’re supposed to take in $7,200,000 this year but through March we might only take in about $4,100,000,” Block said, asking where the missing revenue would come from. “I don’t see how we can make that up.”
Why it matters: The proposal would raise property taxes by about 6.1322 mils, which residents and some commissioners calculated as roughly a 38.3 percent increase in city property tax. That level…
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