Election 2026 · Muskegon
Muskegon County’s new parks tax, sent to voters over a Republican commissioner’s no vote, tops a ballot with three township fire levies
MUSKEGON, Mich. — Muskegon County voters will decide Nov. 3 whether to add a new 10-year property tax for county parks and trails, a request the county board sent to the ballot on a 6-1 vote over the objection of Republican Commissioner Kim Cyr. Voters in three townships, including Blue Lake Township in Cyr’s district, will also decide fire department levies on the same ballot.
The county question would levy up to 0.5 mill, or 50 cents for every $1,000 of taxable value, from 2026 through 2035. The official ballot language estimates first-year revenue at about $3,625,000, and the county parks department says the levy would bring in about $3.68 million a year once fully levied starting in 2027. At that pace the tax would raise roughly $36 million over its 10-year life, by The Mitten Daily’s math from the county’s estimates, before any change in taxable values.
How the board voted. The Muskegon County Board of Commissioners adopted the resolution and ballot language on Aug. 6, 2026, according to the board’s minutes of the meeting. Chairman Charles Nash moved it and Republican Commissioner J. Brett Herman supported it, with a friendly amendment to revise the ballot wording. Commissioners Jessica Cook, Michelle Hazekamp, Herman, Chris McGuigan, Nash and Kimberly Sims voted yes; Cyr, the board’s vice chair, cast the only no vote. Two residents spoke in favor during public comment. The minutes do not record Cyr’s reasons.
The county’s commissioner directory lists three Republicans on the seven-member board, Cyr, Herman and Hazekamp, and four Democrats, Cook, McGuigan, Nash and Sims, so two of the three Republicans joined the board’s Democrats in putting the tax before voters. Cyr represents District 1 in the county’s northwest corner: the cities of Whitehall and Montague; White River, Montague, Whitehall and Blue Lake townships; parts of Fruitland Township; and the Village of Lakewood Club area of Dalton Township, according to the county. When he won re-election in 2024, Cyr told MLive his top priorities were fiscal responsibility, stewardship of natural resources and running the county’s finances more like a business.
What the parks tax would cost and buy. The county’s own examples put the cost at $37.50 a year for a home with a market value of $150,000, $50 for a $200,000 home and $62.50 for a $250,000 home, since taxable value is roughly half of market value. In exchange, the county says it would drop the $7 daily and $25 annual vehicle fees at county parks starting with the 2027 season. That fee break does not cover city, state or federal parks, including the state parks along the Muskegon County shoreline.
The parks department says the county parks now run without any dedicated countywide tax, on camping fees, vehicle permits, rentals and grants, and it cites rising costs and aging facilities. About 70% of the money would go to county parks, regional trails, greenways and countywide sites such as the fairgrounds and Heritage Landing, and up to 30% would be available to the county’s 27 cities, villages and townships for local parks. Possible uses on the county’s list range from restrooms, campgrounds and playgrounds to land purchases and more park staff; actual projects would be set later through planning and annual budgets.
Not every dollar would reach the parks. The ballot language notes that part of the levy can be captured by downtown development, tax increment finance, local development finance and brownfield authorities in the cities of Muskegon, Muskegon Heights, Norton Shores, Whitehall, Montague and Roosevelt Park, Fruitport Charter Township, the Village of Ravenna, and Ravenna and Whitehall townships. The county estimates that capture at about $132,000 in the first year.
Blue Lake Township: 0.75 mill for fire facilities. Blue Lake Township asks voters to approve a levy of 0.75 mill, subject to Headlee rollbacks, for 10 years, 2026 through 2035, to build fire department facilities and grounds. The ballot estimates first-year revenue at $135,228.98. The ballot language does not describe the request as a renewal. For a Blue Lake property with $100,000 of taxable value, the township levy would cost $75 a year; together with the county parks tax, both new levies would add $125 a year on that property.
Casnovia Township: fire operations, renewal plus a small increase. Casnovia Township seeks up to 1.0 mill for five years, 2026 through 2030, to fund and operate its fire department. Of that, 0.9598 mill renews a levy that expired in 2025 and 0.0402 mill is new. The township estimates first-year revenue at about $130,000. At the full mill, the owner of property with $100,000 of taxable value would pay $100 a year.
Dalton Township: renewing the equipment levy. Dalton Township asks voters to renew 0.7109 mill for 10 years, 2027 through 2036, to buy fire apparatus and equipment and upgrade the fire station. The ballot calls it a renewal of the previously authorized millage and estimates first-year revenue at $253,914, or about $71 a year for each $100,000 of taxable value.
Voters in the Muskegon County portion of Grand Haven Area Public Schools will also see the district’s $98.55 million bond request, which The Mitten Daily covered with Ottawa County’s ballot questions. The ballot language estimates a 1.95-mill levy in 2027 and an average of 1.15 mills a year over as long as 25 years.
A yes vote on any of these questions approves the tax for the years listed; a no vote rejects it. If the parks tax fails, the county says its parks would keep running on current funding, though daily parking and camping fees may rise, improvements could be delayed and grants that require a local match may be harder to pursue.
Monday, Oct. 19, was the last day to register to vote online or by mail. After that, residents can still register in person at their city or township clerk’s office with proof of residency, through 8 p.m. on Election Day. Statewide early in-person voting runs Oct. 24 through Nov. 1. Absentee ballot applications are due by 5 p.m. Oct. 30 by mail or online, or by 4 p.m. Nov. 2 in person at the clerk’s office. Polls are open 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. on Tuesday, Nov. 3. County canvassers must finish by Nov. 17, and the Board of State Canvassers certifies statewide results by Nov. 23. Voters can check their registration and see their sample ballot at Michigan.gov/Vote.
Updated Oct. 20, 2026: The Oct. 19 deadline to register to vote online or by mail has passed, so the voting details now say so. Residents can still register in person at their city or township clerk’s office with proof of residency through 8 p.m. on Election Day.
Sources:
Muskegon County Board of Commissioners, Full Board minutes, Aug. 6, 2026 (Action 2026-230, resolution and ballot language for the parks millage, 6-1 roll call, public comment), https://muskegoncomi.api.civicclerk.com/v1/Meetings/GetMeetingFileStream(fileId=8456,plainText=false)
WGVU Vote of Confidence, “Muskegon County Proposals, November 3, 2026 General Election” (official ballot language for the county parks millage and the Blue Lake, Casnovia, Dalton and Grand Haven Area Public Schools questions), https://dc79r36mj3c9w.cloudfront.net/prod/filer_public/wgvu-bento-live-pbs/Vote%20of%20Confidence/County%20Proposals/General%20Election/cf80eb8f7b_Muskegon%20County%202026%20General%20Election%20Proposals.pdf
Muskegon County, sample ballot, Nov. 3, 2026 General Election, Blue Lake Township Precinct 1-A, https://gis.muskegoncountygis.com/elections/202611/ballots/61-04-01A.pdf
Muskegon County Parks, “Muskegon Parks & Trails Millage” (cost examples, $3.68 million estimate, fee elimination, 70/30 split, current funding, what happens if the proposal fails), https://muskegoncountyparks.org/millage/
Muskegon County, “Muskegon County Commissioners” (party affiliations and District 1 boundaries), https://co.muskegon.mi.us/1717/About-Us
MLive, Kayla Tucker, “Commissioner Kim Cyr wins another term on Muskegon County board,” Nov. 6, 2024 (Cyr’s stated priorities), https://www.mlive.com/politics/2024/11/commissioner-kim-cyr-wins-another-term-on-muskegon-county-board.html
Michigan Department of State, “Absentee voting” and election calendar (registration, early voting and absentee deadlines), https://www.michigan.gov/sos/elections/voting/absentee-voting
Photo: Jsayre64, “Aerial view of White Lk and Duck Lk on the Lk Mich shoreline, Muskegon County.jpg,” Nov. 21, 2025, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/), cropped; derivative shared under the same license, https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Aerial_view_of_White_Lk_and_Duck_Lk_on_the_Lk_Mich_shoreline,_Muskegon_County.jpg
