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Commissioner Glenn S. Anderson's Fall 2016 newsletter
Commission Continues Its Due Diligence
On August 2, 2016, voters not only approved the renewal of the Wayne County parks millage, but by the largest margin ever. The millage is levied for the purpose of supporting operations and improvements in the Wayne County Parks system. Since 2009, it has been policy that 15% of the millage funds are returned to local communities based on how much each county commission district raises in property taxes.
After concerns were raised that this policy might be discontinued by the Executive, the Conference of Western Wayne (a consortium of 18 communities throughout western Wayne County) passed a resolution in December 2015 urging the County Executive and the County Commission to continue the practice.
The Commission voted 11-4 on May 5 to approve a resolution that placed the parks millage continuation on the primary ballot, but with language that ensures the 15% return to communities, or a minimum of $50,000 per commission district. Commissioner Glenn S. Anderson, who made the motion to approve the resolution, said "I believe the continuation language that we passed helps clarify how these funds will be distributed and also guarantees that our local community parks benefit from these funds as well."
Since taking office in January, Commissioner Anderson has been busy doing the challenging work of making Wayne County responsive, accountable, and transparent. In addition to securing local parks monies, he has also voted to provide $1,000,000 to address the rape kit backlog, opposed no-bid retroactive contracts, and worked with constituents who needed help navigating their way through Wayne County government.
This tough work continues as the commission deliberates the County's budget. Anderson, who is a member of the Ways & Means committee - and a former member of the State Senate's Appropriations committee - has an extensive background in government budgeting processes. This background has proven invaluable as the County works toward approving its first 2-year budget.
At the time of this writing, the budget has not yet been passed, but is to be completed before the start of the County's next fiscal year on October 1.
