BY SCOTT SULLIVAN EDITOR
The Saugatuck Township Board was scheduled to vote Wednesday, Aug. 10 (too late for this week’s deadline) on asking voters Nov. 8 to approve a 10-year, 0.5-mill property tax assessment to operate, maintain and improve public parks and trails.
The millage, which would generate an estimated $195,352 its first year, would be assessed at a rate of $0.50 per $1,000 of taxable value, was recommended by township parks commission Aug. 3.
The township owns and operates:
• 27-acre River Bluff Park east of Blue Star Highway and south of Old Allegan Road boasting a picnic area, wooded trails and Kalamazoo River frontage;
• The 5-acre Tails ‘N’ Trails Dog Park north off 134th Avenue east of 63rd Street, just west of I-196;
• Sundown Park, less than a quarter-acre overlooking Lake Michigan west of Lakeshore Drive south of that road’s 1986 washout; and
• Blue Star Highway Memorial Veterans Park, one quarter acre along Blue Star Highway west of I-196 Exit 41.
Parks commission members chair Jim Searing, Dana Burd, Elliott Sturm, Ken Butler and Jane Dickie concurred at their Aug. 3 meeting township residents seeking greater nearby family outdoor recreation opportunities, might be supportive of such an increase.
They also approved the draft plan as working master plan shown above for the township Tails ‘N’ Trails Dog Park.
For a township home with a $200,000 taxable value, 0.5 mills equals a $100 per year assessment, a $400,000 home $200 per year, etc.
For more information, visit the township website at saugatucktownship.org.