By Andrew Cluley
Ann Arbor, MI – Even on a night when Washtenaw County's emergency public safety radio system crashed for the fourth time in a month, county public safety officials agreed to delay a vote on a millage to pay for a new unified system.
County commmissioners voted Wednesday night to put the issue on the ballot next May, instead of this November, to save money for communities which do not have other issues on the November ballot.
Commissioners also reduced the millage proposal from point-two-five mils to point-two mils. Despite the reduction, Ann Arbor Police Chief and Chair of the 800 Megahertz Consortium, Dan Oates, says the issue would still raise over 32-million dollars to pay for the new system.
If approved, the millage increase would cost the owner of a 250-thousand dollar home about 25 dollars a year in additional taxes.