Commissioners debate wording on senior services and whether to "explore" a millage in the draft plan

A substantive debate unfolded on June 1 among Ottawa County commissioners over language in the draft strategic plan that references "explore the feasibility of proposing a millage" to fund senior services. Several commissioners pushed to remove or reword the millage language and to first establish concrete baselines for senior needs before discussing funding mechanisms.

Commissioners argued the county already has many locally provided senior services and that the county's appropriate early role is to inventory existing programs and to coordinate rather than to pre‑commit to a countywide tax. One commissioner said the board should "explore senior needs" rather than begin with a presumption of a tax proposal; another warned that discussions of a millage felt premature without clarified objectives and evidence of unmet need.

Staff acknowledged the concern and told the board the plan's language would be rewritten to reflect an exploratory, needs‑first approach, and that the scheduled timeline for more concrete decisions — including any later discussions about a millage — is set later in the plan's schedule (staff said summer 2028 is shown in the draft as a potential target for further consideration). The presenter emphasized that exploring feasibility does not obligate the board to a millage: "the term mill is in there but it's the explore the feasibility because if there is a gap in service how is that gap to be funded?" (presenter, county administrator).

What happens next: commissioners asked staff to rephrase the objective to focus on identifying gaps and options; several urged that any eventual funding discussion be preceded by data gathered through the proposed citizen survey and by convening local units to understand existing programs and capacity. Commissioners also proposed using the task force and county outreach to collect baseline information before the board considers any tax measure.

Ending: no formal action was taken; staff agreed to revise the draft language to remove prescriptive millage wording and to present consolidated feedback in a future work session.