What is the Headlee Reset?
An old state law is strangling Benzie County’s Operating Budget, harming our safety, economy, and quality of life. It’s now threatening to cut even more services we need, from road patrol to animal welfare. The solution? Headlee Reset! It restores budgets to 1994 collection rates and saves services that keep Benzie attractive and economically stable.
We vote on the Headlee Reset on August 4!
FACTS About the Headlee Reset
- We are one of only a handful of Michigan counties that hasn’t approved a Headlee Reset.
- The majority of Michigan counties reset their millages on a regular basis, e.g., every 3 to 4 years.
- Benzie has the lowest operating millage in Michigan
- Our local governments struggle to provide 2026-level services at a millage rate that’s not even 2/3rds of what we had 35 years ago.
- Other counties have fewer “a la carte” millages than Benzie—like ours for Benzie Bus or the animal shelter. Those funds are locked up, with no way to adjust or move them around as costs and budgets change. This makes truly efficient governance almost impossible to achieve.
- Strangled budgets mean we have no county Planning & Zoning Department. Each township has its own, with different codes, making enforcement and economic development very difficult.
- We also have lost our Parks & Recreation Department. One of our most precious quality of life and tourism assets depends almost entirely on volunteers! God bless ‘em, but those good folks are aging out and dropping out.
PASSING the Headlee Reset means:
- Dependable funding for School and Youth Resources Officers, Drug Enforcement Services, and Animal Control and Shelter, rather than constant re-votes on these essential services.
- Maintaining 24-hour Sheriff’s Department Road Patrol.
- Continued fire protection services for most Townships.
- Maintaining current staffing for Local Planning and Zoning.
- Professionally maintaining our Parks & Recreation services to reliably preserve their quality, beauty, and use.
- Protecting and upgrading our Emergency Operations & Technology infrastructure for large-scale threats, emergencies, and data security.
- Continuing MSU Extension programs for 4-H, agriculture, and nutrition.
- Maintaining Clerk, Treasurer, and Register of Deeds offices with current public hours and good response times for deeds, licenses, and permits.
Without Headlee Reset, all of these services will be reduced or eliminated!
What will it cost me?
- The cost to taxpayers for all of this is relatively small.
- For a home with a taxable value of $95,000, the increase would be calculated as $95 x 1.21 = $114.95
- The Tax Impact Estimator at benzierenewal.org can figure your specific cost.
For more detailed information on the Headlee Reset,
go to benzierenewal.org
