By Nicole Gearhart
Beacon Correspondent
The Alger County Commission on Aging will be seeking a millage renewal on the Aug. 4 ballot.
ACCOA Director Kris Lindquist said she hopes residents will bear in mind that this is a continuation of an existing millage, and not a new millage being requested.
“It keeps us operating at full speed,” Lindquist said.
Lindquist said the organization’s goal is to help ensure that local seniors can stay independent in their own homes safely and comfortably. Currently, the ACCOA provides around 1,000 home visits monthly for seniors throughout the county, with the help of the 20 professionals employed there. They also deliver meals to about 70 to 80 seniors monthly through the Home-Delivered Meal Program.
“We’re in our second year of providing that, and it’s been going fabulously from the get-go,” Lindquist said.
The ballot item reads, in part: “This proposal will authorize the County of Alger to levy 0.50 mill for the purpose of funding activities and services for persons 60 years of age and older. Of the 0.50 mill, 0.4874 represents a renewal of the 0.50 mill authorization approved by the electors in 2021, which will expire with the 2026 tax levy, and 0.0126 mill represents a restoration of that portion of the same authority which was reduced by application of the Headlee Amendment.”
According to the Michigan Townships Association, the state’s 1978 Headlee Amendment acts as a strict fiscal safeguard by mandating that local governments secure voter consent before raising tax rates or implementing new levies.
Per the ballot item, for the purpose of providing funding for activities and services for older people in Alger County, the millage will run for five years, through 2031, after the previously approved millage expires this year. It is estimated that 0.50 mill will raise approximately $261,618 for the ACCOA when first levied in 2027.
Naomi Livermore, 93, of Shingleton said she has been an intermittent client of the ACCOA for several years due to a number of health conditions. ACCOA employees assist her with household duties like basic cleaning, personal care and meals.
“I just love them. They’re so good and help me so much,” Livermore said. “I think they’re very important to people up here. I just think it’s a great thing.”
Lindquist said while she does not have plans to leave ACCOA anytime soon, she hopes that when she does she will leave a strong program for her successors.
“I’ve been doing this work for 36 years, and when my time is done at the commission, I’d like to leave a legacy of a self-sustaining program, so my friends are well taken care of,” Lindquist said.