Grand Traverse County commissioners Wednesday will consider putting two millage requests to voters on the August ballot.

Commissioners will meet at 5:30pm at the Governmental Center to discuss seeking millage funding for the county’s Grand Traverse Conservation District (GTCD) and animal control department. In a memo to commissioners, GTCD Chair Andy Blodgett proposed seeking a .1 mill, 10-year millage to “create a stable income stream” for the department responsible for maintaining and providing public access to 3,000 acres of natural parkland in Grand Traverse County.

“Several local conservation districts are funded through public millages,” Blodgett wrote. “Antrim, Benzie, Kalkaska, Manistee, and Missaukee counties…since many other conservation districts have found success with a local millage, our board has voted to request permission to pursue this public support.”

GTCD – which operates the Boardman River Nature Center and assists locally with invasive species control, farmland programs, soil and water protection, and the preservation of the Boardman River – was founded in 1941 in response to the Dust Bowl of the 1930s. Conservation districts were initially funded through state and federal dollars, but “over the years the funding was diminished until around the first decade of the 2000s, when these general operating funds were eliminated,” according to Blodgett.

Today, GTCD receives $27,500 annually from Grand Traverse County – just two percent of the program’s operating budget. That appropriation is the district’s “only recurring, stable funding source,” says Blodgett. Approximately another $1 million in funding is brought into GTCD through state, federal and private foundation grants, an “unpredictable” funding stream that has left the district “overly dependent on grant funding,” according to the district chair. That imbalance has also made it difficult for GTCD to accept competitive grants that require a district match when the organization is low on internal cash reserves, he noted.

The GTCD board estimated the district needs a stable revenue stream of $500,000 annually to operate. According to Blodgett, if a millage were approved by voters, “millage funds will be used to support the district where grant funds and other funds are insufficient or cannot be used.” Millage dollars would help pay for staffing, providing matching funds for competitive grants, and creating a capital fund to pay for building repairs/improvements and equipment purchases for the district, according to the proposal.

A .1 mill millage would cost a Grand Traverse County household with a $100,000 home ($50,000 taxable value) $5 per year. Millage language must be approved by county commissioners and submitted to the county clerk by May 15 to be placed on the August 7 ballot for consideration by voters.

County commissioners will also consider Wednesday whether to put a second millage on the ballot this summer to fund the county’s animal control department. The proposal has been discussed for several months by the commission following a tumultuous two years for animal control, which was eliminated at the beginning of 2016 as part of a series of county budget cuts. Partial staff support was reinstated for the department later that year, though animal control was reliant on producing its own revenue stream to pay for staff and expenses through dog license and other fees.

Earlier this year, commissioners voted to give the department a $150,000 boost from the county’s general fund to beef up staffing for the department, including two animal control officers, one supervisor/animal control officer, and a part-time clerical support employee. The funding increase brought animal control’s total budget to roughly $285,000.

An ad hoc committee of commissioners assigned to study long-term solutions for animal control – including Commissioners Cheryl Gore Follette, Dan Lathrop, and Bob Johnson – is recommending seeking a .037 mill millage for the department on the August 7 ballot. According to the department’s latest budget figures, dog license fees are estimated to generate $112,000. With new staff in place this month – and plans to update animal control’s shelter building and provide office space for the department within the county’s Public Services building – animal control’s amended budget is $280,000-$300,000.

Based on 2017 numbers, the proposed millage rate would generate approximately $170,000 annually for animal control. Combined with dog license fees, the revenue stream would be enough to meet the department’s budget needs and provide a consistent funding source for animal control going forward, according to the proposal.