KALAMAZOO (WKZO-AM) — Election returns show all four millage questions winning in Kalamazoo county, but a proposal to dissolve the village of Richland was soundly defeated.
There were no close votes in Kalamazoo County.
The county law enforcement millage won by over two-to-one. 13,958 voted for it and 6,073 were opposed.
Kalamazoo County Sheriff Rick Fuller said it’s a reaffirmation of the importance of law enforcement in the community. The money will be used to help fund his deputies, the Kalamazoo County Jail, the Kalamazoo County Prosecutor’s Office, probation enhancement and the courts in Kalamazoo County.
It’s about the same margin of victories as the last two millage renewals.
The countywide transportation millage also won decisively. 11,650 said yes, while 8,417 voted no. It clears the way for the transfer of the Metro Transit line haul service and the Metro-Connect door-to-door service to a countywide transportation authority. Board Chair Linda Teeter said it will also mean that expansion plans to add longer hours and Sunday service will go forward as planned.
Voters in the Galesburg-Augusta School District had the closest vote of the night. 777 voted for a bond issue for school repairs and security and classroom technology upgrades. 682 said against the proposal.
The Comstock School District voted to authorize the sale of new bonds to replace old ones by a wide margin, 1,298 to 561. It was one of the most lopsided totals of the night.
None of the approved requests will mean millage hikes. The new votes supported millages that replace expiring ones. In the case of the transportation bond, it replaces a county millage that was actually slightly higher and expires next year.
Voters in Richland have rejected the proposal to dissolve the village government by a vote of 1657 to 712. Those who favored the proposal needed two-thirds to win. instead, more than two-thirds rejected the proposal.
In Calhoun County, unofficial totals have been released. In Albion, a runaway victory for a proposal to let Marshall Public Schools annex the Albion School District. It passed 1528 to 628.
A $30 million bond issue to make improvements and repairs to Lakeview School District facilities, focusing on Lakeview Middle School, has been approved by voters with all six precincts counted. It passed 1904 to 1298. However, a smaller request to install artificial turf and improve the middle school’s auditorium has been defeated, with 1550 voting yes and 1624 voting no.
Voters in Burlington have approved a three-tenths-of-a-mill proposal for library improvements. 97 voted for, while 45 voted against.
The one other interesting and unique bond request was in Laketown Township in Allegan County. Voters there rejected a proposal to wire the township with fiber-optic cable to allow high speed internet. It was defeated 53 percent to 47 percent.
