Police levy question won’t be on McGregor ballot
By Audrey Posten | Times-Register
City of McGregor voters will not see a question on the ballot this fall asking whether or not to establish a levy to help fund the Mar-Mac Unified Law Enforcement District.
Similar to their Marquette counterparts the week prior, McGregor City Council members voted unanimously at their Sept. 17 meeting against a resolution that would have placed the measure on the ballot for the Nov. 4 city/school election. The decision came following a public hearing during which no residents spoke in support of the levy.
If approved, the proposed levy would have assessed $1.50 per $1,000 in taxable property value. With the current rollback rate of 47.43 percent, that would have equated to approximately $71.25 in additional property tax for a home assessed at $100,000.
Collectively, that would have netted the city of McGregor $51,000 annually, according to mayor Russ Crawmer. Those funds would have been specifically earmarked toward the police department budget, freeing up $51,000 in the city’s general fund to be used elsewhere.
For the current fiscal year, McGregor and Marquette contributed $205,000 each toward the $425,000 police budget.
Residents came to the meeting armed with questions about why the levy was proposed. Police chief Robert Millin said it was not at his direction, but by city administration. He stated there are not plans to change the police budget, and when asked by an audience member if the department’s needs were being met, he said they were.
“I could always ask for more money,” Millin said. “We’ve been very fortunate. When I first took over, our struggles were wages. That’s an obstacle that’s very common with agencies our size. But we’ve made some significant improvements, especially the last couple years. Equipment wise, we’re good. As far as the safety of my officers and myself too, we’re good. I can’t think of anything negative.”
Millin explained, however, that Mar-Mac’s status as a police district—what he described as a “hybrid between a sheriff’s office and a municipal police department”—rather than a municipal department makes funding different.
“We are our own government entity. We have our own governing body, which is the public safety commission. We have our own finances,” he said. “If you’re a municipal agency, the tax levy is already there. When they formed the police district, it’s no longer on the tax levy, so to fund the police district, 100 percent of expenses comes out of the general fund. What the cities are requesting for this tax levy is…going to free up $51,000 from the general fund, which they can use for other projects.”
At the August meeting, McGregor City Administrator Denise Schneider, who was not at last week’s meeting due to a planned work commitment, indicated state legislation has constrained city budgets and complicated funding mechanisms. Without levy approval, she said cuts to other areas may have to be considered.
When asked by residents, city officials offered no set plans for how the $51,000 would be utilized.
Although he said the public hearing was an effort to hear directly from residents and discuss the issues, mayor Crawmer agreed “that’s the part that’s non-transparent. It’s like, ‘What’s it going to?’ I think that’s a failed piece there.”
Crawmer went on to reference city contributions to organizations and events like the McGregor-Marquette Center for the Arts at $13,000, the Fall Arts and Crafts Festival at $5,000, McGregor-Marquette Chamber of Commerce at $18,000 and McGregor Historical Museum at $6,000.
“Our sponsorships and donations is about $57,000 a year. Those are all things we love here and cherish..and I don’t see them going anywhere,” Crawmer said, “but from my understanding, the motivation was to add money to the general fund to relieve the pressure of the sponsorships and things like that that we do.”
Audience member Anne Kruse and McGregor Economic Development Director Brandi Crozier disputed this, however.
“Some of the things on the list you were going through there, are they funded by hotel/motel tax? Yes, they are,” Kruse stated.
Added Crozier, “Accounting in a public body is complicated when you receive the revenue and it’s earmarked to certain things. It can only be used for those things. So it goes into special accounts. Some of the things on this list, as Anne pointed out, hotel/motel tax is what funds them. We can’t use that money for other things. It’s earmarked for that. I, as your economic development director, will say I don’t think this is a fair statement.”
“I’m not trying to make this statement on cutting anything. I actually don’t know the whole motivation behind this levy,” Crawmer responded.
One audience member requested “honesty in saying what we’re doing.”
Another expressed sympathy for budget complications, but stated it’s complicated for citizens, too, as their expenses rise.
This feedback convinced the council not to move forward.
Council member Mel Wild said, “I just don’t think we have enough information and motivation to do it right now.”
Council member Charlie Carroll was also influenced by Marquette’s decision.
“Not to compare us totally to Marquette, but Marquette is fortunate to have the boat there and they already pay half the property taxes that a person in McGregor pays and they chose not to do it. So we’d be increasing the burden on our McGregor taxpayer even more so now that Marquette has chosen not to,” he explained.
