Comments
GPWoods seniors May events
On the subject of May activities, Grosse Pointe Woods' seniors also would be wise to attend their city's council meetings Monday, May 7, and Monday, May 21 at 7:30 p.m. where the Woods' upcoming new budget will be discussed at length. There's no admission, except for the thousands of dollars in real estate taxes and fees you already pay each year. Seniors living on fixed incomes should be especially interested in how the 2012-2013 city budget, which likely will be more than $32 million, is to be implemented by more than $1.2 million a year of their tax money if Mayor Robert Novitke and his six council cronies succeed in placing a Headlee override blank check proposal on the November presidential ballot. Seniors should be sure to ask for instructions on how to obtain absentee ballots so their votes can be counted.
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Ben Burns
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Nancy Nall Derringer
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Sheila Young Tomkowiak
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Democratic U.S. Rep. Gary Peters, left, who is running for his next term in the newly redrawn 14th District -- which includes the Grosse Pointes -- will meet with the public today (April 30) at Windmill Pointe Park in Grosse Pointe Park. 


Comments
Grosse Pointe Woods Headlee override
It's a real stretch to call a 1.9 mill tax increase to pay for for $10 million in road construction bonds, plus an additional 1.85 mills for a Headlee Override that goes straight to the general fund, "alternatives to a millage boost." Those two total 3.75 mills - which will put the Grosse Pointe Woods taxpayers well over the Headlee cap, no matter how you tally it up. We do need money for roads, and $10 million in road construction bonds may be acceptable. But the Woods council never would have "bifurcated" (love that word) their proposal if we three veteran former council members (Joe Sucher, Lisa Pinkos Howle and me) hadn't put the screws to them publicly, demanding it. And they still want a Headlee override of 1.85 mills, which will raise Woods' residents' taxes an extra $185 for every $100,000 of their property's taxable value? So tell me again: How's a 3.75 mill tax increase an acceptable "alternative" to the proposed original 3.60 "millage boost." Incidentally, I learned something long ago about sunset provisions: Local tax levies are like the old British Empire. The sun never sets on them.