The Village of Holly has opted to keep a tax increase in place for another year.
On Tuesday night, the village council voted 5-2 to keep a 4-mill special assessment millage in place that was approved last June as an emergency measure to balance their budget and remain solvent.
Council members Jim Koskela, Amber Kier, Shannon Cole, Buster Winebrenner and President April Brandon voted yes. Council members Dan Wendell and Tom Ryan voted no.
Wendell cast his vote moments after announcing his resignation. He cast his vote as he walked out of the meeting. Contacted afterwards, he changed his mind.
“I am no longer stepping down due to the overwhelming support from the public and my family,” Wendell said on Thursday.
Last year the 4-mill assessment for “all lands and premises” in the village equaled $4 per $1,000 of taxable value and raised $658,710 in revenue.
Several residents opposed renewing the special assessment.
“I am here to oppose this tax increase because that’s exactly what it is. If council does not pass it, my property taxes would decrease by about $500. So, in approving it, you are increasing my taxes,” said village resident Anna Matson. “Last year, you swore to the public that this was the only option because you didn’t have time to cover your deficit. A year later, and now what do you have to say? You are still not sending it to a vote of the people, and you have made no serious attempt to cut costs.”
“We voted for that millage for public safety (in 2022). It isn’t a debate about whether we need public safety,” said resident George Cullas. “It’s a debate about whether we listen to the people we represent.”
“When we got our first bill a year ago, that was only supposed to be needed for a year, and didn’t look like an assessment, it looked like a new tax. In fact, everyone’s referenced it as a new tax, arguably 20%,” said resident Ken Rockwell. “I don’t know what percentage that is, but those are huge numbers. And the way it reads on our bill, it looks like it’s there forever, not five years or the one year we were promised. So, that’s an issue.”
Wendel said he was unhappy that there was another last-minute public hearing on the issue as there was in 2025.
“We should have had one before Tuesday night, but I am at least glad we had one,” he said. “I wish it wasn’t for four mills again, but I do stand behind our police and fire departments.”
Village manager Tim Price said they looked at other options for police service, including contracting with the Michigan State Police or sharing coverage with a neighboring com
The village will leave a special assessment millage in place in order to help fund police and fire services.
(Stephen Frye / MediaNews Group)
but decided to stay with their current police department.
Last year, the police department employed 33 officers, including 10 full-time, six part-time and 10 reserve officers.
The fire department is staffed by over 40 members including a full-time chief, part-time staff, and paid on-call personnel.
The three largest expenses in the village general fund are the police department, $1.9 million; a pension liability inherited from a previous defined benefits plan, $1.09 million annually through 2040; and the village fire department, $987,000.
Both the police and fire departments have their own line items in the village budget.
“We have cut back in many areas,” said Price. ”But the reality is, if we as a community don’t want to cut services, if we don’t want to remove police or we don’t want to remove fire, then we would have to make dramatic changes.”
Price did not specify where cuts had been made in staff or budget.