01-05-2025
Kinross Township has fire hall proposal, parks and rec millage on May ballot
SAULT STE. MARIE — Voters in Kinross Township will have two items to consider in the upcoming May 6 election.
The first proposal asks voters whether or not to support the building of a new fire hall.
In 1979, the Kinross Fire Department transitioned to a volunteer fire department. Since that time, they have been operating out of an extra building at the airport instead of a dedicated fire hall.
The airport now needs that space to store vehicles, and the fire department is looking for options.
In November 2024, the fire department's ballot proposal asking to borrow $3.75 million through a series of tax bonds to build a new fire hall was voted down 758 to 614.
The new May proposal is asking for an amount of $3 million instead of $3.75 million. This money will cover the cost of acquiring, constructing, furnishing, equipping and financing a new fire hall.
The proposed site for the new hall is located on the corner of Cedar Grove and Griffin Street on a lot that is already owned by the township.
The ballot language reads: "The bonds will be outstanding a maximum of 20 years, exclusive of refunding. It is estimated that it will be necessary to levy 3.0 mill ($3 per $1,000 of taxable value) to pay debt service on the bonds in the first year of the levy, and to levy an estimated average of 3.0 mill ($3 per $1,000 of taxable value) each subsequent year for debt service, until the bonds are retired."
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The second ballot item is for a renewal of the millage currently applied to the parks and recreation budget. If passed, it would levy 2 mills for four years starting in 2026 to fund the Kinross Recreation Center, Duke Lake Recreation Area and Kinross Community Park.
If it passes, it is expected to raise an estimated $197,060 in its first year. If it doesn't pass, then the 2 mills would expire at the end of 2025.
The ballot language reads: "Shall the soon to expire, previously voted increase in the tax limitation imposed under Article IX, Section 6 of the Michigan Constitution on all taxable real and tangible personal property in Kinross Charter Township, Chippewa County Michigan be re-instated in an amount not to exceed 2.0 mills ($2 per $1,000 of taxable value) for a period of four years, being 2026, 2027, 2028 and 2029 inclusive, for the purpose of operating, maintaining, equipping and making capital expenditures for the Kinross Recreation Center, Duke Lake Recreation Area and the Kinross Community Park within Kinross Charter Township, this being a continuation of 2.0 mills that would otherwise expire with the 2025 levy, and shall the township levy such a millage for said purpose, raising an estimated $197,060 in the first year."
— Contact Brendan Wiesner: BWiesner@
This article originally appeared on The Sault News: Fire hall proposal, parks and rec millage on May 2025 ballot for Kinross Township
