Overview
- Several townships saw police and fire millages fail in the Aug. 4 primary, triggering emergency meetings and a push to revise measures before the Aug. 11 filing deadline.
- Waterford announced it will return two rejected measures to the November ballot as renewals rather than increases and says more than $7 million a year in public safety funding is at risk if voters again reject them.
- Highland leaders approved simpler ballot language and are weighing a modest increase for a Fire & EMS millage after the August defeat and warn the department is thinly staffed with roughly 26 firefighters.
- Orion’s vote against renewals could leave the Oakland County sheriff’s substation unmanned because the township lacks its own police force, a change that officials say would reduce local patrols and raise response concerns.
- State election law lets municipalities quickly amend and refile failed millages for the general election, and officials say continued voter resistance to new taxes could force cuts to shifts, stations, hiring and emergency response if November fails to restore revenue.