Child assessment center seeks 0.05‑mill from Roscommon to sustain forensic interviews and services

Rebecca Yonker, executive director of the Northern Michigan Child Assessment Center, presented a request that Roscommon County consider placing a 0.05‑mill levy on the August ballot to help sustain the center’s core services.

Yonker said the center’s operating budget is about $1.2 million and that it raises roughly 30% of its operating dollars from local sources; federal Victims of Crime Act funding has declined and state and federal funding remain uncertain. She described a unit cost estimate focused on forensic interviews and argued that a 0.05‑mill levy in each participating county would reduce the center’s reliance on ad hoc community fundraising while maintaining services: "We average just shy of a 100 cases in Roscommon of those kids coming into the center for forensic interviews," she said, and estimated Roscommon’s share would be about $145,000 based on interview counts.

Commissioners discussed legal mechanisms for a county to collect a millage on behalf of a multi‑county nonprofit, contract terms and reporting to ensure Roscommon funds support Roscommon residents. Several commissioners emphasized that any county‑collected millage must include explicit contracting and reporting so funds raised in Roscommon are used for Roscommon residents; staff were asked to review legal wording and intergovernmental arrangements and to return with refined ballot language and attorney feedback.