News Photo by Steve Schulwitz The Alpena County Board of Canvassers works at certifying the vote from Tuesday’s election.

ALPENA — Voters in Alpena County rejected a proposed property tax hike during Tuesday’s election, but didn’t go so far as to replace any of the incumbent county commissioners over their handling of the 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 cutting $500,000 from the Alpena County Sheriff’s Office, which county Sheriff Erik Smith has said would likely mean he’d have to cut deputies, do away with 24-hour road patrol, and cut or eliminate marine and trail patrol.

Republican Commissioner Brenda Fournier, who on Tuesday defeated her write-in challenger, Carol Bobolts, 1,290 to 131, said she is honored voters in her district put their trust and faith in her to represent them on the board.

She said voters’ denial of the county’s tax proposal sets the stage for large cuts, many of which will be directed at the Alpena County Sheriff’s Office.

“To be honest, I don’t know where we go from here, and now we have to make the cuts,” Fournier said. “They will hurt, and I understand how people feel, but we can only do so much with what we have.”

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.

County board Chairman John Kozlowski, who was unopposed in Tuesday’s election, said he isn’t a fan of raising taxes, but the county needed an increase to preserve some county services. He said he heard from some of his constituents that the ballot language was still confusing, even though it was cleaned up after voters first rejected the proposal in August.

“Now we need to do some of the things we talked about,” Kozlowski said. “We never viewed this as a threat or to fear-monger. It is a reality. We have reached the end of our rope.”

The county is in the final stretch of hammering out its 2025 budget.

Smith, the sheriff, said Friday he remained unsure which positions would be impacted, but he said the job loss would likely include deputies and/or clerical staff.

He said his staff, especially on the patrol side, is already thin. Layoffs of more deputies would only exacerbate the situation and force drastic measures.

Smith said 24-hour road patrol would likely disappear and emergency services such as marine rescue and off-road vehicle and snowmobile rescues could also fall to the wayside.

Smith said the people have spoken and he will find a way to run his office to the best of his ability with the money it has.

“We put it out to the people, and we have to respect their decision,” Smith said. “The Sheriff’s Office is committed to do its best to provide public safety the best that we can. This is a little bit of a setback, but we’ll make it through.”

Smith ran unopposed this election cycle and received 13,412 votes.

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.

Also on Tuesday, Commissioner Bill Peterson, a Republican, defeated write-in challenger Brian Perry 1,944 to 109. Lucille Bray, who was appointed to the board last month, defeated write-in candidate JoAnn Pinkerton 1,033 to 4. Incumbent Republican Commissioner Bill LaHaie defeated independent Jeff Walsh 1,035 to 560.

Republican newcomer Griffin James defeated former commissioner and Democrat Bob Adrian 760 to 674.

However, James moved out of the district after filing to run and is ineligible for the seat. That means the Board of Commissioners will have 30 days to appoint someone to fill the seat.

In addition to Kozlowski, incumbent Republican Commissioner Tavis Konarzewski ran unopposed, as did newcomer Republican Todd Britton.

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