COLDWATER, MI (WTVB) – The Branch County Board of Commissioners brought forward a proposal to reduce the millage rate for the Branch County Jail during their work session on Thursday.
The Board chose to immediately reduce the millage rate from 1.2310 to .78 mills. Formal action is expected to be taken during the Commissioners meeting next Tuesday afternoon.
County Administrator Frank Walsh said the 36 percent reduction would result in the bond being paid off as planned in 2037-2038.
Walsh said over time, the millage rate would continue to be reduced from .78 to .4251. The amount of the reduction is tied exclusively to the growth or decline in the county’s taxable value.
He pointed out the county cannot legally begin to pay early until May of 2030.
Branch County voters approved a millage for the new jail in 2018. The total bond approved in 2020 was slightly over $24,200,000.
According to Walsh, at the time of the bond sale, the county predicated their annual payment schedule on a one percent anticipated growth. Since the bonds were sold, the county’s annual taxable value growth has been more in the range of four to five percent.
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