News Photo by Steve Schulwitz A line of voters in Alpena waits to vote at the APlex in Alpena during the presidential election on Tuesday.

ALPENA — Voters in Alpena County for a second time voted against a proposed countywide property tax hike that could have prevented steep cuts to the county’s budget.

The tax proposal failed by a mere 129 votes out of 15,337 votes cast, with 50.4% voting against and 49.6% voting for.

The proposal’s failure could force the Alpena County Board of Commissioners into making $500,000 worth of cuts from the Alpena County Sheriff’s Office. County Sheriff Erik Smith said last month that, if the proposal failed, he would likely have to cut deputies, do away with 24-hour road patrol, and cut or eliminate marine and trail patrol.

The tax increase was needed, the commissioners said, to replace the loss of property tax revenue from the so-called “Headlee rollback,” a reference to a section of state law known as the “Headlee amendment,” which automatically lowers local governments’ tax rates if the growth in property tax revenue exceeds the rate of inflation.

Alpena County officials called their proposal a “Headlee rollup,” because it would allow the county to override the Headlee amendment and levy the county’s full usual tax rate.

The word “Headlee” didn’t appear in the county’s ballot language.

The four-year, 0.7-mill property tax hike would have raised about $800,000 a year for the county and cost the owner of a $100,000 house about $35 a year.

The proposal would have also raised property taxes in Alpena County townships by 0.29 mills, costing the owner of a $100,000 house in one of the townships another roughly $15 a year. It would have raised taxes for the Alpena-Montmorency-Alcona Educational Service District by 0.25 mills, costing the owner of a $100,000 house another roughly $13 a year.

That would put the total cost of the proposal for the owner of a $100,000 house in an Alpena County township at about $63 a year.

Alpena County officials said the tax was needed because the county faces a roughly $1 million budget deficit for the 2025 fiscal year and the county’s running out of cash savings to cover the gap.

Alpena County Administrator Jesse Osmer said early Wednesday he was disappointed in the results, but respects the voters’ decision.

He said that, moving forward, the commissioners will consider the budget cuts they proposed last month, which also include a large cut to the Michigan State University Extension and 4-H programs.

Osmer said he will continue to search for ways to bolster the budget so the cuts aren’t as drastic, but admitted it is going to be challenging. He said financial forecasts for the county’s 2026 fiscal year are also not good.

From the beginning, the purpose of the proposal was to give voters the opportunity to choose the level of services they want from their local government, including law enforcement, Osmer said.

“The goal going forward is to ensure that those departments and individuals affected by the coming cuts will have the time to plan accordingly,” Osmer said.

Tuesday was the second time Alpena County voters saw the proposed hike. In August, the proposal failed by a vote of 51% to 49%, but the commissioners wanted to offer voters a second proposal, this time with a four-year cap. The first proposal would have stayed in place indefinitely.