© 2024 Interlochen
CLASSICAL IPR | 88.7 FM Interlochen | 94.7 FM Traverse City | 88.5 FM Mackinaw City IPR NEWS | 91.5 FM Traverse City | 90.1 FM Harbor Springs/Petoskey | 89.7 FM Manistee/Ludington
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations

Drug enforcement millage raises questions in Benzie County

Linda Stephan

A plan to boost funding for drug enforcement in Benzie County could face problems if voters approve it.

Questions have emerged over the language used in the ballot proposal.

(Read the actual ballot language below.)

Eight people have died of drug overdoses in Benzie County in the past two years. Now voters there are being asked to pay for a deputy to join the Traverse Narcotics Team (TNT) with a tax increase.

TNT is a regional operation, responding to incidents across Northwest Lower Michigan. But the millage proposal says that the money would “specifically” fund "the drug interdiction program known as the Traverse Narcotics Team for drug enforcement and awareness programs in Benzie County."

Some county officials raised concerns over whether the language needed to be made more clear. An attorney suggested some alternative ways to phrase the proposal, but the deadline has passed to change the ballot language.

Benzie County Sheriff Ted Schendel says officials determined there was no need to modify the proposal.

The sheriff's department used to have a deputy assigned to TNT but it let the position go unfilled earlier this year because of budget cuts. The Traverse Narcotics Team operates throughout eight counties in northwest Lower Michigan.

Ballot Language:

"BENZIE COUNTY DRUG ENFORCEMENT OFFICER OPERATING MILLAGE PROPOSAL

For the purpose of paying cost of enhancing law enforcement efforts and preserving and protecting the safety of the citizens of Benzie County, specifically for funding the drug interdiction program known as the Traverse Narcotics Team for drug enforcement and awareness programs in Benzie County, shall the tax limitation imposed under Article IX, Sec. 6 of the Michigan Constitution on general ad valorem taxes within the County of Benzie, Michigan be increased by up to 0.1000 of a mill ($.10 per $1,000 of taxable value) for a period of four (4) years (2014-2017) inclusive?

If approved and levied in full, this millage would raise an estimated $111,968.72 for Traverse Narcotics Team Drug Enforcement Officer operating purposes in the first calendar year."