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Lansing to ask voters to renew public safety millage

Mike Yankowski photo
Scott Pohl
/
WKAR
Lansing Chief of Police Mike Yankowski

In November, the city of Lansing will ask its residents to renew a millage that currently funds police and fire services, plus road maintenance. We talk with Lansing Police Chief Mike Yankowski.

The economic landslide that began in 2008 and which historians now call the Great Recession is, officially, long over, but its footprint still lingers in cities across the country. In Lansing, Mayor Virg Bernero says declining property values have cost the city about $7-million in lost revenue each year.

In 2011, Lansing voters approved a 4-mill property tax levy that funded police and fire services, plus road maintenance. It was a stopgap measure designed to help the city hold the line and avoid potentially massive layoffs. Now, the city is asking residents to renew that existing millage.

Last night, the Lansing City Council approved a measure to place a millage renewal on the November ballot.

Current State discusses the impact the millage has on public safety with Lansing Police Chief Mike Yankowski.

Kevin Lavery served as a general assignment reporter and occasional local host for Morning Edition and All Things Considered before retiring in 2023.
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