800 Mhz Millage; Vote ‘Yes’ Tuesday, May 8th

The Ann Arbor Area Chamber of Commerce and the Ypsilanti Area Chamber of Commerce jointly support the 800 MHz radio system plan.  We recognize the importance of this new system and support Washtenaw County moving to purchase and implement it.  We agree there is a need to strengthen public safety efforts thoughout Washtenaw county through improved communications for police, fire and emergency agencies, and we recognize the benefits of a joint, countywide radio system that links to the state system.  We support the system and utilizing a .2 mill, 10-year millage to provide the funding. 

In 2004, the Ann Arbor Area Chamber of Commerce and the Ypsilanti Area Chamber of Commerce opposed the County’s Plan to fund the radio system by increasing the 911 surcharge on land telephone lines from $.80 per month to $4.00 per month per line.  This proposal would have significantly impacted small businesses in a negative way and it was not an effective funding mechanism given the decreasing number of land telephone lines in Washtenaw County.  

The Chamber's recommended the County consider spreading the cost over a larger base and over a longer period of time.  We suggested options to consider, such as extending the surcharge to cell phones (which would require legislative changes in Lansing) or a small millage increase to fund a portion of the system combined with using general funds from participating municipalities.

Reasons to Support the Millage:

• The current plan spreads the cost over a larger base and over a longer period of time and more effectively matches the funding mechanism with the life of the asset
• $4 million in operating costs have been eliminated from the proposal compared to the 2004 proposal
• The county has extended the plan from 5 years to 10 years, which more accurately reflects the lifetime of the capital expenditures in the plan
• There is unanimous support among all the County's Public Safety Officials that a new system is required
• The radio system that has been selected appears to be cost effective and reasonable when compared to alternate systems
• The plan would significantly improve service, allowing all police and fire agencies in Washtenaw County, except the University of Michigan Safety Services, to communicate on the same system (Note:  U of M has its own system and can communicate with local police and fire agencies)
• Non-public safety radios are not included in the millage proposal.  The City of Ann Arbor, Ann Arbor Public Schools, etc. will have to use general fund dollars to purchase non-public safety radios on the system
• 60 of Michigan counties are already on the state’s radio system
• Subsidizing some of the conversion costs that may currently be funded out of general funds ensures participation of all municipalities in the radio system

Where to Vote

We have a new website, http://www.annarborareabusinessvotes.com/, where you can get all the information you need about every election.