Washtenaw County board delays decision on agricultural millage

The .04-mill levy to help promote the county's agricultural, industrial and tourism fields passed unanimously at the commissioners' Ways and Means Committee meeting Wednesday evening.

But prior to a final vote at the board's regular meeting about 30 minutes later, the process stalled when Commissioner Mark Ouimet, R-Scio Township, asked that specific items within the millage be considered separately.

Ouimet wanted funding for 4-H activities ($59,000), horticulture programming ($27,000), agricultural innovation ($15,000), and the Food Systems Economic Partnership ($15,000), to be voted on either individually or as a block - separate from four other economic development initiatives based on the county’s east side.

The millage would raise $487,000 for those initiatives, which include Ann Arbor Spark ($200,000) and SPARK East ($100,000).

The request sent several commissioners clamoring for clarification on voting procedures and engaging in side conversations for several minutes.

Commissioner Ronnie Peterson, D-Ypsilanti, then asked to table the measure until the next meeting on Nov. 4. His motion passed 7-4.

Overall, the tax would generate $603,000 in economic development funds and cost taxpayers roughly $4 for every $100,000 of their property’s taxable value.

Ouimet said he has concerns about levying additional taxes when there might be other ways to find money.

“My concern is not with SPARK or with SPARK East,” said Ouimet, a member of SPARK’s executive board. “I just thought the funds we’re talking about are in the range that they could be dealt with in the general fund.” Commissioner Barbara Bergman, D-Ann Arbor, said after the meeting that Ouimet’s decision was based purely on politics and accused him of “wanting his cake and having it too.”

“He’s a west-side guy and doesn’t want the money going east,” she said. “But he also doesn’t want to vote down the agricultural programs that are primarily on the west side.”

Ouimet, whose district covers Cheslea, Dexter and six western townships, said he hasn't ruled out running for the Michigan House of Representatives seat occupied by term-limited Democrat Pam Byrnes next year.

But he said people shouldn't to read too much into the commissioners’ decision to postpone the vote.

“My guess is that people are supportive, but we just have to figure out how we actually want to vote on it,” he said.

Art Aisner is a freelance writer for AnnArbor.com. Reach the news desk at news@annarbor.com or 734-623-2530.