Eight proposals on Aug. 2 ballot.

Eight proposals on Aug. 2 ballot.

By Allison Scarbrough, Editor.

OCEANA COUNTY — A total of eight proposals are on the ballot in the primary election Aug. 2, including a request for a 2.25 millage increase for 20 years to build a new 144-bed jail and sheriff’s office  on North Oceana Drive near the water tower in the City of Hart.

The Oceana County Board of Commissioners voted unanimously May 5 to put the proposal on the ballot.

The aging and overcrowded facility is in desperate need of replacement, Oceana County Sheriff Craig Mast, Undersheriff Ryan Schiller and Granger Construction Senior Project Manager Todd Butler stressed during a detailed presentation. The facility will cost $29.7 million to $34.8 million.

The millage increase will provide $3,094,000 in the first calendar year of 2023.

Benona Township voters will consider a Shelby Area District Library proposal for a millage increase of a .25 mill for four years to fund library services to township residents. The millage increase is expected to generate approximately $44,000 in the first year.

Benona Township will also have a request for a 1-mill increase for four years for road improvements, which would raise an estimated $182,000 in the first year.

Ferry Township voters will consider a 1.5-mill increase for five years for road maintenance and improvements. The increase is expected to raise over $48,000 in the first year.

Grant Township ballot casters will vote on a 2-mill increase for road construction and maintenance for two years. It is anticipated that the revenue will total $159,000 in the first year of the levy.

Greenwood and Newfield township voters will consider a Hesperia Community Library millage to levy for four years a .89 mill — of which .8333 is a millage renewal — for “all library purposes.” A total of $149,000 is expected to be generated in the first year.

Shelby Township residents who cast ballots will consider a millage increase of .5 mill for five years for maintenance and improvements to township cemeteries and public parks. It is estimated that $53,000 will be generated in the first year. 

Some voters in Claybanks and Grant townships will be asked to vote on a Montague Area Public Schools bond issue of $12,730,000 to fund an addition to the high school, an agricultural barn, a soccer field storage building, new school buses and improvements to other district buildings on campus.

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