News File Photo Alpena City Hall is seen in this November archive photo.

ALPENA — Tonight, the Alpena Municipal Council could vote to add another year to each of the councilmembers’ terms.

City Clerk Anna Soik will request that the council approve a resolution to move the elections for sitting council members to even-numbered years to save money.

Currently, elections for council seats are held in odd-numbered years, which don’t coincide with presidential or gubernatorial elections. That forces the city to pay for the balloting, instead of piggybacking on state and federal elections, which saves on the cost of printing ballots and running elections.

It is not the first time a change to the election schedule has been considered by the council. In 2014, then-clerk Karen Hebert made the same request, but the council voted to maintain the status quo and keep the city elections in the odd-numbered years.

In 2011, Public Act 523 allowed cities that hold elections during odd-numbered years to make the switch with the simple passing of a resolution.

Soik said the last city election in November 2021 cost $10,751, and that amount could escalate because of the increased costs of supplies and labor because of the growing popularity of no-reason absentee voting.

“Not only is there increased cost, but there is an incredible amount of work put into the election that begins months prior,” Soik said in her report to the council.

If the council approves Soik’s request, Mayor Matt Waligora and Councilmen Mike Nowak and Danny Mitchell would have their terms extended to the end of 2024, while Mayor Pro-tempore Cindy Johnson and Councilwoman Karol Walchak would hold their seats until at least the end of 2026.

The city staggers the election of its council so the entire board doesn’t roll over during one election.

If the council votes to approve the move, the first election for council members in the new schedule would be in November 2024.

The council meeting tonight is open to the public and slated to begin at 6 p.m.

Steve Schulwitz can be reached at 989-358-5689 at sschulwitz@thealpenanews.com. Follow him on Twitter @ss_alpenanews.com.