Tag Archives: Income tax

Voters turn down city proposals, pass Wyoming Public Schools bond millage renewal

3-bottom, Citizen Journalism, City of Wyoming, Education, Election, , , , , ,

By Joanne Bailey-Boorsma
joanne@wktv.org

Voters turned down an income tax for the City of Wyoming.

Wyoming voters voted down a proposed income tax for the city while renewing a $24.9 million bond proposal for Wyoming Public Schools.

About 16 percent of the city’s 55,999 registered voters came out for the special election that was yesterday. The city had two proposals on the ballot. The first was an income tax that would be up to 1 percent for city residents and up to .5 percent for non-residents such as commuters who work in the city. In the second proposal, the city was seeking to reduce the city property tax by about 58 percent, from around 12 mills to 5. Both proposals had to pass to take effect.

The first proposal of an income tax was defeated by 6,055 no votes to 2,824 yes votes. The second proposal to reduce city property tax received 5,381 yes votes to 3,474 no votes. Because the two proposals were tied together, if one failed the other automatically failed as well.

The city estimated that the proposals would have generated about $6 million in revenue for the city. City Council said it planned to put $3.3 million toward its fire department to added 27 firefighters, doubling the current staffing from 27 to 54. About $2.1 million would have been used to add 13 police officers and a crime analyst to the city’s police department with the remaining $600,000 for capital improvement needs for the city’s parks.

The approved $24.9 million bond renewal will go toward renovations at Wyoming Junior High School.

Wyoming Public Schools

A purple and white message in both English and Spanish on the Wyoming Public Schools Facebook page thanked the district’s voters for renewing a $24.9 million bond. The money is earmarked for renovations at the Wyoming Junior High School, which is the oldest building in the district. Formerly Wyoming Park High School, the oldest portion of the building dates back to 1926. There were additions in 1957, 1959, and 1979.

About 16 percent of the district’s 27,188 votes came out with 2,066 voting yes and 1,930 voting no.

The approved bond will be added to about $11 million in renovations already planned for the school, including more than $3 million in major upgrades to Dan Heintzelman Fine Arts Center. The $11 million comes from a 2017 bond issue.

Renovations and improvements to the junior high to be funded by the bond renewal include: modern learning environments; new furnitures; an integrated technology; adequate lab spaces and equipment; improved air quality replacement of failing building systems (such as roofing, plumbing, and electrical) to become energy efficient and meet modern building codes; and site improvements to traffic flow, aging parking lots, and athletic facilities.

Work on the junior high, which is locate dat 2125 Wrenwood St. SW, is scheduled to start in the summer of 2023. 

Voters head to the polls Tuesday for two city proposals and one Wyoming School district request

3-bottom, City of Wyoming, Education, Election, , , , , ,

By Joanne Bailey-Boorsma
joanne@wktv.org

Tomorrow, May 3, the residents of the City of Wyoming will be heading to the polls for two city proposals, an income tax and a reduction in city property taxes, while those in Wyoming Public Schools also are being asked to renew a $24.9 million bond proposal to renovate the Wyoming Junior High building.

The first of the two city proposals on the ballot is for an income tax that would be aup to 1 percent for city residents and up to .5 percent for non-residents such as commuters who work in the city. In the second proposal, the city is seeking to reduce the city property tax by about 58 percent, from around 12 mills to 5. Both proposals must pass to take effect.

According to city officials, the goal of the proposals is to build a more sustainable funding for the city and create equitably in sharing city expenses with those who use city services but do not live in the city while helping to reduce the cost to residents with the reduction in city property taxes.

If the two proposals pass, it would raise about an additional $6 million in funding from the city. The Wyoming City Council has said it would put $3.3 million toward its fire department, doubling the department’s current staffing from 27 to 54.

This would add about nine firefighters per shift and the city would be able to fully staff all four of its fire stations. Currently only two of the stations, Gezon and 36th Street, are fully staffed; however emergency calls are evenly distributed throughout the city, according to Fire Chief Brian Bennett. The city is broken into four fire districts with the busiest being the Division station, which is currently unmanned.

The city received about 7,155 calls in 2021, which is about 600 calls above 2020. Within the first four months of 2022, the department is already 200 calls ahead of the same time period in 2021.

The department has the highest calls per firefighter in the area. Wyoming averages about 265 calls per firefighter with the City of Kentwood averaging around 121 while the City of Grand Rapids averages 123 calls per firefighter.

About $2.1 million would go toward the police department to increase its staff by 13 officers and 1 crime analyst. According to Wyoming Department of Public Safety Chief Kim Koster, this would allow the department to increase traffic patrols. The city had 35 traffic fatalities from 2016 to 2020 and was ranked 5th in the state.

Koster said the city also has seen an increase in violent crime with calls requiring more than one officer to respond and resulting in less officers being available for traffic enforcement and neighborhood patrols.

The remaining $600,000 would be for capital improvements at the city’s parks. The current Parks and Recreation millage, which is 1.5 mills, has not been increased in more than 20 years. It is used to fund recreation programs, maintenance services, and basically facility upkeep.

“In 2020, when we received all the income from the parks and recreation millage, fees, and grants and then subtracted out all the expenses, we had about $30,000 left to roll into the fund balance for capital improvements,” Rebecca Rynbrandt, the city’s director of community services, said in a previous WKTV story.

Wyoming Public Schools

Those living in the Wyoming Public Schools district, are being asked to renew a $24.9 million bond proposal that would go toward renovating Wyoming Junior High to look like the current Wyoming High School.

According to school officials, the debt millage rate would remain the same at 5.65 mills, which is what it has been since 2016. Bond approval would not raise taxes, according to school officials.

 

Monies from the proposed bond millage will be combined with money set aside from the 2017 bond, which is about $11 million and includes $3 million for the Dan Heintzelman auditorium. If approved, renovations would include construction of a large two-story addition. The fine arts center would become a stand-alone building.

 

Voting

To check on your voting status and to see a sample ballot, visit mi.gov/vote. To vote in a city or school election, you must be a U.S. citizen, a resident of the city or school district for at least 30 days, are 18 years or old, and are not serving a sentence in jail or prison. Following voter-approved election changes in 2018, Michigan residents now have the option to register in-person with the local clerk on election day. Once registered, each voter will have the choice to vote absentee or drive to the polling location to vote in person.

 

Those voting absentee must return the absentee ballot by 8 p.m. Tuesday, May 3. Ballots may be mailed or dropped off at the ballot drop box behind city hall or in-person at city hall until 8 p.m.

The polls will be open from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. Voters should double check their precinct location, have photo ID, and should not wear or bring any political material to the precinct.

 

For more information on voice, visit the City of Wyoming website. 

Wyoming’s continued growth does not just impact schools, but city services such as fire

3-bottom, City of Wyoming, , ,

By Joanne Bailey-Boorsma
joanne@wktv.org

When a new housing project is proposed in a community, the first thing most people think of is how will it impact the local schools. In truth, a new development may impact a community’s utilities — especially its fire department — even more.

“Whenever there is a new development, it means more people using your streets which in turn means more potential crashes and other safety issues,” said Wyoming Fire Chief Brian Bennett.

 

In the past 20 years, the City of Wyoming has seen several new developments such as HOM Flats along Prairie Parkway and The Reserve at 54th Street and Wilson Avenue, which has resulted in the city’s population increasing from 69,000 to 76,000. Within the first four months of 2022, the fire department has responded to 200 more calls than in the same period of 2021. Bennett noted that from 2020 to 2021, there was an increase of 600 calls and he expects 2022 to outpace 2021 in calls.

In that same 20-year time span, the department, due to state funding cuts and the 2008 recession, has decreased by eight full-time firefighters to 27 and, due to increase training requirements, paid-on call firefighters have gone down from 40 to 6.

 

Through two proposals on the May 3 ballot, the city hopes to double its current fire staffing from 27 to 54. The first proposal would be an income tax of up to 1 percent for city residents and up to .5 percent for non-residents such as commuters who work in the city. In the second proposal, the city is seeking to reduce the city property tax by about 58 percent, from around 12 mills to 5. Both proposals must pass to take effect.

“Our goal is to be more efficient at what we do,” Bennett said, adding the additional staffing would put the department in about the middle of the pack for staffing and calls per firefighter.

The Wyoming Fire Department has the highest calls per firefighter in the Greater Grand Rapids, averaging about 265 calls per firefighters. The department averages about 20 calls a day. (WKTV)

Currently the department has the highest number of calls per firefighters in the Greater Grand Rapids area with 265 calls per firefighter. The City of Grand Rapids averages about 124 calls per firefighter while the City of Kentwood averages about 110 calls per firefighters.

The calls are not just for fires, but for a variety of safety issues such as tree damage, wires down, vehicle crashes, gas leaks, and medical calls.

“A lot of people think that all a fire department does is respond to fires,” Bennett said, adding that fire calls are only a small portion of what the department handles. “But over the years, the fire department’s responsibility has expanded to include just about anything that involves safety.

“Basically, we are here to assure that the people who are in our community can safely operate while they are here.”

For example, if there is a crash on the expressway, the department not only responses to the accident but also must mitigate any gas spills to assure the gas does not enter the waterways so as not to contaminate the city’s water supply.

Because of the increase in calls, the result has been the City of Wyoming relying on neighboring communities. In fact, in 2020, the city had to rely on other departments 140 times because its fire department was on another call.

“With the increased number of calls, it makes our availability less and less,” Bennett said. “The result is we have to rely on our neighbors more to cover what we can’t get to.”

Bennett noted that the reliance on other departments does mean longer response times for those waiting for assistance.

Assuring the safety of its residents and visitors also means the department is responsible to review all the site plans for any construction project within the city to assure all the safety features are included in the overall design as well as handle safety inspections for business, restaurants and hotels.

“These safety inspections are suppose to be done every year but because of staffing, we are not able to get to all of them every year,” Bennett said.

With the expected news of what will be constructed on Site 36, commercial and residential development in the City of Wyoming does not look to be slowing down. In fact, there is a movement to revitalize Division Avenue and with new businesses and housing means more demands on the fire department.  Bennett noted the city is divided into four fire districts with the busiest currently being Division, which has an unman station.

 

Two out of the city’s fire stations are manned 24/7. If the two May 3 proposals are approved, all four stations would be manned.

To learn more about the two May 3 proposals, visit wyomingmi.gov/FundingFortheFuture. 

Proposed income tax could provide sustainable capital improvement funding for Wyoming’s parks

3-bottom, City of Wyoming, Our Cities, Recreation, , , ,

By Joanne Bailey-Boorsma
joanne@wktv.org

The cracks on the basketball courts at Marquette Park. (WKTV)

Walking up to Marquette Park’s basketball court and it’s not hard to see the cracks, partly because they are deep and repaired with a black resurfacer that stands out against the green-and-red-colored court floor.

Just looking at it, no one would deny the courts need to be replaced. That was a goal in 2018, with the city receiving a quote for a base coat and replacement at $72,000. All the City of Wyoming could budget from its Parks and Recreation 2019 budget was $35,500, so the courts got a crack fill and re-coat at $27,000.

“It shows how the price of things have gone up,” said the city’s Director of Community Services Rebecca Rynbrandt. “What you could purchase with a dollar 25 years ago is not the same as what you can purchase with a dollar today.”

An example of that is the playground at Marquette Park. From when the park was constructed more than 25 years ago, it had a playground. Eventually, because of the Michigan weather of freezing temperatures in the winter and humidity in the summer along with just regular use, the equipment had to be replaced. In 2001, the city replaced the playground at only half of its original size for about $20,000. Twenty years later and the cost to replace the  playground equipment is $32,000.

Now multiply Marquette Park’s needs by 21 parks equaling more than 700 acres that have varying facilities and maintenance needs. For the City of Wyoming to meet its Capital Replacement Plan over the next nine years, it would need an average of $600,000 per year.

If the two May 3 proposals for an income tax and reduction in property tax are approved, the city would provide $600,000 annual of the estimated $6 million annually generated for sustainable annual capital investment in the city’s park system. About $3.3 million would be used to hire about 27 additional firefighters for the fire department with $2.1 million for the police department, which plans to hire 13 police officers and one crime analyst.

“In 2020, when we received all the income from the parks and recreation millage, fees, and grants and then subtracted out all the expenses, we had about $30,000 left to roll into the fund balance for capital improvements,” Rynbrandt said. The Parks and Recreation millage, which is 1.5 mills, has not been increased in more than 20 years. It is used to fund recreation programs, maintenance services and basic facility upkeep.

In 2001, the City of Wyoming replaced Marquette Park’s playground at half the size of the original. (WKTV)

And while the parks and recreation fund balance is well over a million dollars, the balance is needed to leverage funds and grants to help with park redevelopment and capital improvement projects. This was the case for Ideal Park, which was devastated after two tornados and a flood. A $300,000 Department of Natural Resources Fund grant helped with the parks redevelopment with the city required to match $808,300 in the city parks and recreation millage. The total cost for the redevelopment of Ideal Park was about $1.673 million.

On average, the city needs to have somewhere between $600,000 to $900,000 in cash flow to get the matching grants, she said. It is through matching grants that the city hopes to help fund the cost for the redevelopment of Marquette Park, which the city is currently reviewing a new master plan for the park.

To help with park capital improvements, in 2017 Wyoming voters approved allowing the city’s library millage funding to be used on parks with Ferand, Jackson, Ideal, and Gezon parks receiving funding for redevelopment. Because the cost to fully redevelop a park can be in the millions, the city is only able to do the redevelopment projects in phases. Gezon’s first phase redevelopment is currently underway.

Because there are needs at the Wyoming library — the city owns the facility while Kent District Library owns the materials and handles staffing — per its commitment to residents, the city will use the library millage for the facility improvements.

“Parks are constantly in a state of maintenance and repair,” Rynbrandt said, adding that her team has done well in keeping the city’s parks in tip-top shape and meeting changing community needs such as in recent years, adding a dog park and community garden at Marquette Park. 

“There will be needs and items that have to be replaced,”Rynbrandt said. “Just like a roof on a house, after 20 some years, it has to be replaced. So it is with the roofs on our park shelters and facilities.”

Wyoming hosts informational meetings on proposed income tax, millage reduction proposals

3-bottom, City of Wyoming, Our Cities, Upcoming Events, , ,


By Joanne Bailey-Boorsma
joanne@wktv.org

Wyoming residents wanting to learn more about the city’s proposed income tax and millage reduction proposals will have the chanced at a series of informational meetings.

If approved, the proposed income tax generate enough funds for the city to add 27 firefighters and 14 police officers. (WKTV)

Starting tomorrow, Feb. 2, the city will be hosting seven public meetings in February, March, and April. The meetings are designed to provide information regarding the May 3, 2022 ballot proposals. The two proposals are an income tax that would be up to 1 percent for residents and up to .5 percent for non-residents. The second proposal would be for a city property millage reduction for property owners both homeowners and business owners. The millage would go from about 11.89 to 5 mills. The two proposals are tied together with both required to pass.

“It is my goal to make sure every Wyoming voter has the information they need to vote on May 3,” said Mayor Jack Poll. “The public meetings are a chance for residents and community members to learn more about the need and have their questions answered.”

The first meeting is set for Wednesday, Feb. 2, at Wyoming City Hall, 1155 28th St. SW. The meeting is scheduled to start at 7 p.m. 

The other meetings are:

Feb. 16, Wyoming Senior Center, 2380 DeHoop Ave. SW

March 2, Gezon Fire Station, 2300 Gezon Parkway SW

March 9, Del Mar Community Room

March 15, Godwin Heights High School, 50 35th St. SW

March 24, City Hall, 1155 28th St. SW

April 19, KDL Wyoming Branch, 3350 Michael Ave. SW

In September, the Wyoming City Council approved the two proposes to be placed on the May 3 ballot. If approved, the proposals would minimize the overall tax burden to city residents while generating an additional $6 million in revenue each year. The revenue would be used to improve public safety and parks infrastructure for residents, businesses, and visitors.

 

The additional funds would allow the Wyoming Department of Public Safety to add 27 firefighter and 14 police positions, improving public safety by decreasing response times, enhancing crime prevention efforts and adding more proactive traffic enforcement.

 

The funding also would provide $600,000 in sustainable annual capital invest in the city’s park system. Many of the city’s parks were built between 1950 and 1970 and while the city has made great strides in developing park properties such as ideal, Frog Hollow, Jackson and Ideal, other parks such as Marquette Park, are 25-years-old or more and are in need of capital improvement. City officials have noted that the current parks millage does not have capacity to provide any funding for capital investment.

For more on the two proposals or to use the tax calculator, visit wyomingmi.gov/FundingFortheFuture.