Lake Michigan College is moving its millage renewal request from the May ballot to the August ballot. LMC Spokesperson Jennifer Shoemaker tells us that’s due to language in the original proposal that may have been inconsistent with the intent of the renewal request. The college learned of the error in the language on Friday.
“What is says is that we were asking for the renewal to be for a period of 20 years, 2023 through 2043, inclusive,” Shoemaker said. “When you do the calculations, ‘2023 through 2043, inclusive’ is actually 21 years, not 20. So, somebody might think that we were either not being clear or honest or transparent.”
Shoemaker says the college didn’t want to communicate anything confusing to the voters by using ambiguous wording. The updated millage proposal with revised language will be on the August 8 ballot. The LMC Board of Trustees voted Monday to reschedule the vote on the proposal. Other than clarifying the timespan of the millage renewal, the ballot language to be considered by voters in August will be exactly the same. Shoemaker says the LMC millage is nearly 30% of the college’s operating budget, making it critical to LMC to carry out its mission and offer programs.
