Higher millage needed to keep up, Kentwood police chief says
KENTWOOD, Mich. (WOOD) — Voters in Kentwood will decide on a public safety millage increase in the May 7 election.
The Kentwood police and fire departments say the funding is needed to keep up with population growth.
Kentwood voters to consider millage increase for police, fire
Voters will decide on a 1.95 mills increase for public safety. That means a home with a taxable value of $100,000 would pay an additional $195 a year.
Police Chief Bryan Litwin says the increase is needed to keep up with the demand for service.
The city’s population grew 11.5% from 2010 to 2020, leaders say.
“Since our first police and fire millage was passed in 1999, and at that point we raised our officer level to shortly thereafter 71 officers. And that number hasn’t increased in the last 25 years,” Litwin said.
A proposal to increase Kentwood’s public safety funding through a millage increase has left resident Scott Morton with questions.
“With inflation and everything else we’re trying to save money, not spend more, so I’m wondering what’s the value I get,” Morton said. “How is that going to improve response time or service?”
Morton has lived in Kentwood for 25 years and wants to learn more about how the money would improve service.
“Can you do more with what you have? Because I understand technology, and I also understand that they have to recruit police officers. It’s hard to recruit them. But my concern, as a person that lives in Kentwood, is simply are they going to be able to respond in a real emergency quickly,” Morton said.
Litwin says the proposal will allow the department to hire more officers and to maintain and add equipment. The goal of the funding is to improve response times, especially with lower priority calls where residents have longer wait times.
“The city has worked very hard to keep that number down at that one, you know, below a two — that 1.95 to keep it reasonable for our citizens but also meet the needs that we have,” Litwin said.
Fire Chief Brent Looman says the departments have stretched the funding from the previous millage beyond what was expected.
“In 2010, we passed a millage that the city fully expected to make that last 10 years. And this has now lasted an additional four years,” Looman said.
The funding will also help the fire department add additional capacity for medical calls, which have grown with the population increase.
“We’re up 36% on our run volumes since 2010. Of course, police numbers are up quite a bit also, and as that happens we certainly have a lot more EMS and fire calls to respond to,” Looman said.
The city is hosting a community forum to answer questions on Monday, April 29 at 6 p.m. at the Kentwood Police Department, located at 4742 Walma Ave. SE.
You can find more information on the proposal on the city website.
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