Police levy question won’t be on Marquette ballot this fall
By Audrey Posten | Times-Register
City of Marquette voters will not see a question on the ballot this fall regarding whether or not to establish a levy to help fund the Mar-Mac Unified Law Enforcement District.
At its Sept. 9 meeting, the Marquette City Council took no action on a resolution that would have placed the measure on the ballot for the Nov. 4 city/school election. The decision came after a public hearing in which the general consensus of residents was not in favor of a levy.
Through the hearing, it was the city’s intent “to be as transparent as possible,” according to mayor Brittany Hemmer.
If approved, the proposed levy would have assessed $1.50 per $1,000 of assessed value of taxable property. With the rollback, that would have equated to $71.50 for a $100,000 property, said city manager Bonnie Basemann. Collectively, it would have netted Marquette around $25,000.
That amount would have been specifically earmarked for the police budget, freeing up $25,000 in the city’s general fund “to be used on other things like streets and parks and building maintenance,” Basemann said.
According to Basemann, the Mar-Mac Unified Law Enforcement District budget is currently $410,000, split equally between the cities of Marquette and McGregor. She noted the $25,000 from the special levy would not have been enough to cover the whole police budget. The remaining $175,000 would still have come out of the general fund.
Basemann indicated consideration of the levy was not based on a “particular need specific for the police department,” but for general operations.
Mar-Mac Police Chief Robert Millin added the department’s budget would not grow as a result of a levy, but stressed the amount of agency activity for communities the size of Marquette and McGregor.
“Yeah, our budget’s $400,000-plus, but we are our own government agency. Since I took over in 2018, we’ve had a 55 percent increase in calls for service. What a lot of people don’t realize is we’ve got Prairie du Chien across the river. We have Highway 18 that has 4,000 to 6,000 vehicles a day. We have Highway 76 that has a couple thousand vehicles a day. Yes, as a district as a whole, we’re only 1,200 [combined population], but our calls for service and agency activity is the equivalent of 4,000,” he shared.
Council member Dave Schneider acknowledged the budget has increased, citing the need for competitive wages to attract and retain officers.
“When I came onto the council, we struggled to staff officers. If you look around the area at a lot of small communities, it’s tough to staff police departments. We look for ways to control the budget, but in our area…we have to have the coverage of a good police department if something happens,” he said.
One resident from the Timber Ridge Subdivision feared how a potential levy would impact taxes on new, larger homes being built in the development. Another audience member said she was concerned as a senior citizen on a fixed income.
“My taxes have already gone up,” she said. “I’m a senior citizen on a limited income, so I’m a little concerned about the future. If the police really need something, then I’d vote ‘yes’ if it was really a dire situation, but if it’s not…”
“Marquette is majority senior citizens living on a fixed income, so it is an issue,” agreed Hemmer. “That’s why I’m appreciative of all of you coming out.”
Council member Tracy Melver didn’t believe there was a dire enough need to impose another tax on residents. He referenced a healthy general fund of close to $5.8 million and money that will be paid back on recent TIF projects.
“My opinion is we do not need to do this to our citizens. Not when we can still financially provide police protection for our citizens. We’ve been very fiscally responsible as a council and a town,” he said. “If it’s getting to be such a dire need that we need to worry about $25,000 to help fund the police department, maybe we need to start looking at the police department a little harder.”
The city of McGregor will hold a similar public hearing this week, at its Wednesday, Sept. 17 regular meeting, to determine if a measure should be placed on the ballot for McGregor voters.
Although Marquette and McGregor share police protection, the cities are not dependent on one another placing the question on the ballot—or passing the measure. One city, for instance, could have the question on the ballot and the other could not. Only in a city that passed the measure would voters be assessed.
