Eaton County will likely have to eliminate its road patrol and animal control services after voters rejected a proposed millage to fund them.
The millage would have raised about $10 million for Eaton County in its first year.
Spokesperson Logan Bailey said the county didn’t communicate its financial struggles early enough, relying on leftover federal funds received during the COVID-19 pandemic to balance its budget for the past few years.
“That money, that funding and that time is gone now,” Bailey said. “So, the financial cliff, we hit it. And residents, they want to see further cuts, so county government is about to look a lot different.”
He added while the county faces rising costs, residents are also feeling those cost increases.
Nearly 57% of voters who went to the polls Tuesday voted against the proposal. Voters rejected a similar measure in November of last year.
Bailey said it’s unlikely the county would put a proposal on the ballot again this fall, especially as cuts will already be made to coincide with the start of the county’s fiscal year in October.
While he said the county could seek additional funding further down the road, he warned the damage may already be done.
“If we dismantle road patrol and the Eaton County Sheriff’s Office like that, the cost of rebuilding that, both financially and with time, is going to be immense,” Bailey said.
But the failure of the millage may lead to increased costs for other jurisdictions.
The county currently has a contract with Delta Township to provide policing services, meaning the township will have to either build its own department or partner with a different local agency once the county’s services are cut.
Eaton County Sheriff’s Office deputies responded to about half of all 911 calls in the county last year. If those deputies are cut, Michigan State Police and local police departments would have to respond instead.
The millage rejected Tuesday would have also provided funding to fill four staff openings in the county prosecutor’s office that will now likely remain vacant, with additional cuts possibly on the way.
Animal control also has a vacancy and is currently housed in a building that Bailey said is “essentially collapsing” and is too small for the service.