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FERNDALE — Two major questions will be on the ballot for Ferndale voters this May.
On May 6, Ferndale and the Ferndale Public Schools each have a ballot question with significant monetary implications that will be decided.
Ferndale once again will have a millage restoration proposal after its last attempt to get a proposal approved in November failed.
This proposal was to reset the millage to 20 mills to fund the general operating millage, with funds also being used for public safety and recreation purposes. The residents voted no, opposing the amount of the millage and its no term limit on the override.
The new restoration is for 5.445 mills, which was the same millage restoration that voters approved in 2015. It would expire after 10 years and bring the rate to 16.3 mills.
The official ballot language reads, “This proposal will restore a portion of the City’s operating millage which has been reduced by application of the Headlee Amendment and revenues collected from the millage would be used for general operating purposes.
“Shall the limitation on the amount of taxes which may be imposed on taxable property in the City of Ferndale, County of Oakland, Michigan, be increased by 5.4452 mills ($5.44 per $1,000 of the taxable value) for a period of ten (10) years, from 2026 to 2035, as new additional millage in excess of the limitation imposed by Michigan Compiled Laws section 211.34d, to provide funds for general operating purposes? It is estimated that 5.4452 mills would raise approximately $5,398,746.73 when first levied in 2026,” the proposal continues.
The city’s current Headlee override will expire on Dec. 31. Assistant City Manager James Krizan previously told the Woodward Talk that the city wouldn’t be able to levy a new millage for tax year 2025. In July, Ferndale would levy about 15.4 mills and in the first year of the new millage, it would be 16.3.
City Manager Colleen O’Toole, who was hired by Ferndale in the months since the last millage vote failed, said what she’s learned is that the millage now and what it would be in the future is essential to the operations of the city as people know it.
“There’s really no way around that issue,” she said. “The devoted millage is a direct part of city operations.”
O’Toole said the new millage is a lower request than what was offered in November and focuses on essential funding, primarily police, fire and public works with no construction plans and has the 10-year expiration.
“That lower request focusing on central funding and having a set expiration date is really meant to package it in a way to make it much more understandable and more in line with the direct needs today of the city,” she said. “It’s just pressing the reset button. It’s very similar to what was considered 10 years ago. It’s the exact same amount of the reset going back 10 years. It just kind of takes off a little bit that has been chipped away at the city’s millage power in that time from Headlee.”
Resident Mike Thompson, who expressed his displeasure with the last millage proposal and voted against it, said the new option is better than before with the removal of construction projects and the no term limit, but he doesn’t feel it was the best option Ferndale could have provided.
“It’s still an increase and just given how people are feeling, I don’t know if that was the right strategy,” he said.
Thompson said he also plans to vote no on this proposal
“I think that they have not demonstrated what they’re going to do with the money. They have not made clear that they’re not going to ask for a bond in the fall, if this does pass. … There’s just a lot of questions of what they’re planning to do with the money and what they have done to kind of cut expenses and what the future will look like as far as cutting expenses goes. So there’s just still a lot of unanswered questions and I think the right approach would have been maybe a break even, kept it at the same rate, but they decided not to do that.”
According to the city’s FAQ about the proposal, if the millage is adopted, starting with the summer 2026 tax bill there would be a 5.4452 mill levy on the property tax bill, replacing the current 4.2808 mill levy that was on the 2024 summer tax bill that is set to expire this year.
“A simple way to understand the impact is to divide your Taxable Value by 1,000 and then (multiply) by the millage rate (5.4452) to get the annual impact of the millage on your parcel. Or, if you would like to know specifically about the increased amount, (multiply) by 1.1644,” the FAQ states. “On a home with a taxable value of $100,000 the difference in this rate compared to the previously adopted Headlee Override is equal to $116.44 per year or $9.70 per month.”
Residents also can estimate their current property taxes through the State Tax Estimator at michigan.gov/taxes/property/estimator and visit ferndalemi.gov for more information.
Ferndale Public Schools
Ferndale Public Schools has put up a bond totaling $114.8 million for voters to decide on. Funding from the bond would be used to improve the Ferndale Middle School and High School buildings and athletic fields.
Improvements include a new academic wing to better separate the middle and high school spaces, upgraded band rooms, modernized classrooms and expanded common areas, safer entry points, and improved student services, according to the district.
Band Director Elon Jamison said the upgrades would see that the current high school band room be updated and become the band room for the middle schoolers, as it is closer to the middle school building.
The high school orchestra room would then be expanded, both in terms of footprint and ceiling height, and become the new band room for the high schoolers. The room that is currently the middle school band room would become the new orchestra room.
Jamison said establishing these new rooms and giving the students their own space near where they take classes in the middle school would help set up the students for success.
“It’s still all the same campus, but the middle schoolers have to go, because most of them have classes at the far west side of campus currently, and then they have to go walk all the way to the far east side of campus for their band classes,” he said. “That’s the primary catalyst. And then the bonus is that the high school band and orchestra would get an improved space and easier access to the auditorium.”
For more information on the bond, visit ferndaleschools.org/page/vote.
