News · Bedford Township
Bedford Township asks voters for a new 1-mill fire tax to replace trucks, gear and stations
TEMPERANCE, Mich. — Bedford Township voters will decide Nov. 3 whether to pay a new property tax dedicated to the township Fire Department’s equipment, trucks and buildings.
The proposal asks for 1 additional mill, or $1 for every $1,000 of taxable value, for 10 years. According to the ballot language filed with the Monroe County clerk, the money could be used only for “acquiring, improving and maintaining” Fire Department equipment, vehicles, buildings and apparatus.
The ballot language estimates the levy would bring in about $1,580,439 in its first year.
The tax would not show up on bills right away. The ballot wording says it would be collected each year from 2028 through 2037.
For a sense of scale, a home with a taxable value of $100,000 would pay about $100 a year under the new mill. Taxable value is usually lower than market value, and it appears on each owner’s assessment notice.
Because the measure raises the township’s constitutional tax-rate limit, it needs a simple majority of voters in Bedford Township to pass.
Bedford has one early voting site for all 14 of its precincts: the Government Center at 8100 Jackman Road. It is open 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. daily from Saturday, Oct. 24, through Sunday, Nov. 1, according to the township. Voters are asked to bring photo identification, and absentee ballots can be returned to township drop boxes or the clerk’s counter.
Sources:
Monroe County Clerk, “Official November General 2026 Ballot Proposals”, https://www.co.monroe.mi.us/DocumentCenter/View/6215/November-Ballot-Proposals?bidId=
Bedford Township, “November 3, 2026 Early Voting”, https://www.bedfordmi.org/_T4_R167.php
Bedford Township, Board agendas and minutes, https://www.bedfordmi.org/government/agendas___minutes/index.php
Photo: Dwight Burdette, “Bedford Township Michigan Government Center,” Dec. 29, 2011, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 3.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/), cropped and color-corrected, https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Bedford_Township_Michigan_Government_Center.JPG
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Voters can cast ballots at the Government Center on Jackman Road from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. daily ahead of the Nov. 3 election. A free Fall Family Fest is Oct. 17.