Marquette’s 2027 budget holds the city millage but raises the average water, sewer and trash bill about $99 a year

MARQUETTE, Mich. — Marquette residents will not see a higher city tax rate next year, but most will pay more for the pipes and trucks behind their utility bills.

The City Commission unanimously adopted the city’s fiscal 2027 budget, a spending plan of about $97 million, after a public hearing at which no residents spoke, TV6 and The Mining Journal reported. The general fund, which pays for police, fire, parks and most day-to-day services, is $26.8 million, with $14.8 million of that coming from property taxes.

City Manager Karen Kovacs said the city did not raise its millage. Rates for water, sewer, stormwater and solid-waste collection are going up, following a rate study done a few years ago. Kovacs put the increase for an average household at about $60 a year for water, sewer and stormwater and $30 for sanitation, roughly $99 in all. The Mining Journal put the average combined monthly increase at about $8.24.

Where the capital money goes. The budget carries about $11.7 million in capital and infrastructure work. The biggest items are the Cinder Pond Marina reconstruction at $3.38 million and the Division Street rebuild between Genesee and Joliet at about $2.4 million. Smaller projects include rebuilding the Presque Isle bandshell restrooms, a summer dog park and an extension of the CR-550 multi-use path. About $4.1 million is expected from grants and contributions, with the rest from city funds and likely some borrowing, the amount of which is not yet known.

The tax bill. Kovacs said 44 cents of each property-tax dollar a Marquette resident pays goes to city operations, 32 cents to schools, 19 cents to the county, 4 cents to Peter White Public Library and 1 cent to the Iron Ore Heritage Trail. She put the average resident’s city property tax at $148.30 a month. About half of the city’s land is tax-exempt, she said, including Northern Michigan University, churches, nonprofits and public lakefront.

Commissioners also gave Kovacs and City Attorney Suzanne Curry Larsen contract extensions through 2029 and 6% raises.

Our view. Holding the millage is the right instinct, and the commission deserves credit for funding road and marina work it had put off. But a $99 utility increase is a tax by another name for families on fixed incomes, and 6% raises for the two top appointees sit awkwardly beside it. Residents should expect a clear accounting of the borrowing before it happens.

Sources:
The Mining Journal, Annie Lippert, “Marquette City Commission passes 2027 budget,” Oct. 2026 (capital list, funding mix, $8.24 monthly figure, tax-dollar split, average tax bill, raises), https://www.miningjournal.net/news/front-page-news/2026/10/marquette-city-commission-passes-2027-budget/
TV6/WLUC, “Marquette City Commission adopts 2027 balanced budget,” Sept. 29, 2026 ($97 million total, $26.8 million general fund, Kovacs rate quote), https://www.uppermichiganssource.com/2026/09/29/marquette-city-commission-adopts-2027-balanced-budget/
Photo: Tim Kiser, “Marquette City Hall with 1975 datestone, Marquette, Michigan, 2024-09-24-6347.jpg,” Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/), cropped and color-adjusted, https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Marquette_City_Hall_with_1975_datestone,_Marquette,_Michigan,_2024-09-24-6347.jpg

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Tags: Marquette · News · City Budget · Utility Rates · Property Taxes · City Commission