Huron County asks voters for a new 10-year public safety tax, three months after approving four county millages

BAD AXE, Mich. — Huron County property owners will decide Nov. 3 whether to add a new countywide tax for public safety, three months after voters renewed three county millages and approved a fourth new one in the August primary.

The question asks voters to raise the county’s tax limit by up to 0.4 mill for 10 years, 2026 through 2035, for “law enforcement services and equipment, jail operations, courthouse security, emergency medical services, and other public safety functions within the County,” according to the official ballot language posted by the Michigan Department of State. If levied in full, it would raise an estimated $1,220,546 in its first year. A mill is $1 for every $1,000 of taxable value, so the levy would cost $40 a year on a home with a taxable value of $100,000.

Part of the money may be captured by the downtown development and tax increment finance authorities in Bad Axe and Port Austin and the downtown development authorities in Caseville, Elkton and Sebewaing, the ballot language says. It does not say how the money would be divided among deputies, the jail, courthouse security and EMS.

New money, not a renewal. The Huron County Board of Commissioners placed the question on the ballot, Thumbnet reported in September. It comes on top of four countywide millages voters approved on Aug. 4, Huron County View reported: a 0.25-mill senior services renewal (6,134 to 1,953), a 0.08-mill veterans services renewal (6,633 to 1,472), a 0.4-mill 911/Central Dispatch renewal through 2032 (6,521 to 1,568) and a new 0.075-mill senior services increase starting in 2027 (5,505 to 2,539). The new public safety tax would be levied at the same rate as the 911 renewal, so together those two would cost $80 a year on a home with a $100,000 taxable value.

The sheriff’s staffing warning. In October 2023, Sheriff Kelly Hanson told the Huron Daily Tribune that the county board needed to act to keep deputies from leaving for better-paying agencies after two deputies left for other departments that August. “We’re the ones that are relied upon when others aren’t,” Hanson said, noting his office was one of only three agencies in the county with at least one officer on duty around the clock. He suggested then that it might be time for a road patrol millage, which the Tribune noted Huron County had never had. Commissioner Todd Talaski, the personnel committee chairman, said at the time that no one wanted to raise taxes and that a road patrol millage would be a last resort the board would work to avoid.

A bundled question. When commissioners first weighed a public safety millage in January 2022, board executive assistant Jodi Essenmacher reported that counties she surveyed advised keeping such requests separate. “They said if you start combining them, they fail,” she told the board, according to Huron County View. Commissioners narrowed that request to 911 alone. This year’s question combines law enforcement, the jail, courthouse security and emergency medical services in one levy.

Lake Township tries again, without the increase. Lake Township voters in August rejected two road questions that would have renewed the township’s levies and nudged them back up to their original rates: a road maintenance and spongy moth millage failed 179 to 178, and a road construction millage failed 205 to 150, Huron County View reported. The township board has put both back on the November ballot as straight renewals at the rolled-back rates, the Huron Daily Tribune reported: 1.4395 mills for road maintenance and spongy moth suppression, about $212,057 in the first year, and 0.9561 mill for roads, about $140,846, each for 2027 through 2030. On a $100,000 taxable value, that is $143.95 and $95.61 a year. “Our millage rate has not increased, but by renewing these millages, it will enable the Township to continue maintaining and improving our roads, as needed, and protecting our trees,” Supervisor Valerie McCallum told the Tribune.

Also on Huron County ballots. The open 25th District state Senate seat pits Republican Andrew Beeler, who won a four-way GOP primary with about 62% of the vote and carried Huron County with 2,786 votes, against Democrat April L. Osentoski, who was unopposed in her primary, Huron County View reported. The seat is open because Sen. Dan Lauwers’ final term ends Jan. 1. Every Michigan voter will also see two statewide questions: Proposal 1 on calling a constitutional convention and Proposal 2 on utility and contractor campaign donations. Next door, seven Sanilac County townships and villages are asking for road, fire or safety millages.

How to vote. 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; check with your city or township clerk for early voting sites and hours. 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 canvasses 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:
Michigan Department of State, Michigan Voter Information Center, November 3, 2026 sample ballots for Huron County (official ballot language for the public safety millage, as reproduced by The Gist), https://thegist.vote/question/2026-general-mi/huron-huron-county-huron-county-public-safety-millage-proposal; sample ballot lookup, https://mvic.sos.state.mi.us/PublicBallot/Index
Thumbnet.net, Mary Drier and Mike Kaufman, “Huron County to Ask for a Public Safety Millage in November Election,” Sept. 8, 2026, http://thumbnet.net/wire/headlines/08361_Huron_County_to_Ask_for_a_Public_Safety_Millage_in_November_Election_000228.php
Huron County View, Seth Stapleton, “Primary election results in for Huron County,” Aug. 6, 2026 (preliminary August vote totals, Lake Township results, 25th District primary), https://huroncountyview.com/articles/primary-election-results-in-for-huron-county-2/
Huron Daily Tribune, “Two familiar millage renewals back on ballot for Lake Twp. voters,” Oct. 9, 2026 (ballot language, McCallum quote), https://www.michigansthumb.com/news/article/lake-township-renewal-millages-22464893.php
Huron Daily Tribune, Mark Birdsall, “Sheriff: Public safety at risk if county board doesn’t act,” Oct. 20, 2023 (Hanson and Talaski), https://www.michigansthumb.com/news/article/sheriff-public-safety-risk-huron-county-board-18437858.php
Huron County View, Seth Stapleton, “Commissioners discuss potential public safety millage,” Jan. 20, 2022 (Essenmacher quote), https://huroncountyview.com/articles/commissioners-discuss-potential-public-safety-millage/
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: Notorious4life, “Bad Axe, Michigan along M-142.jpg,” Wikimedia Commons, CC0 1.0 (http://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/), cropped, https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Bad_Axe,_Michigan_along_M-142.jpg

Thumb Coast · Election 2026 coverage

Tags: Thumb Coast · Election 2026 · Huron County · Public Safety · Millage · Taxes