Alpena County voters will decide fate for Older Persons Millage
Millage up for renewal, funds programs for seniors
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ALPENA - Alpena voters will get a chance to decide whether or not to renew the Older Persons millage next week.
Craig Zelazny, chairman of the Alpena County Older Persons committee, said the outcome of this millage will determine whether or not programs for seniors in Alpena County continue.
The proposal will run for four years if renewed, starting with the levy made on Dec. 1.
The Alpena County Older Persons millage proposes a renewal for a tax not to exceed 0.55 of one million ($0.55 on each $1,000.00 of Equalized State Taxable Value) for a period of four years starting with the levy made Dec. 1, 2026.
This millage is for the sole purpose of providing "activities and services" for older persons in Alpena County, which includes individuals 60 years of age or older, for social, health, educational, nutritional, recreational, and senior facility improvements and mobility services.
The estimated revenue Alpena County will collect if the millage is approved and levied in the first year is $694,352. The .55-mill tax would cost an owner of a $100,000 house and a taxable value of about half that, about $27.50 a year.
Zelazny said that the millage supports a variety of programs through the Alpena Senior Citizens Center. Some examples include the following: Meals on Wheels, medication management, exercise programs, and more.
"The revenue from this senior millage is an important piece for the survival of these essential and much needed senior programs," Zelazny said in an email.
He told The News that Meals on Wheels is a critical program because not only does it provide meals to seniors in the county, it also allows volunteers to "inadvertently do welfare checks" on seniors who otherwise have little contact with family or loved ones.
"Seniors don't have a lot of contact with people," Zelazny said. "That part is really important." Programs like the center's medication management invites registered nurses to visit and work with seniors to organize their medications and teach them how to properly take their medications at the right time and at the correct frequencies.
He added that the APlex and Alpena County Plaza Pool work with the center to provide exercise programming for seniors, which includes a workshop to prevent seniors from falling and injuring themselves.
"That is very popular with seniors," Zelazny said.
He noted other programming such as a partnership with Thunder Bay Transportation to provide senior vouchers as well as "fall color" tours to view the changing colors of trees around the neighborhoods. He added that around Christmas, seniors are welcomed to participate in a Christmas light tour, when buses take seniors around the community to view Christmas light displays at residences.
"It gets the seniors out and about," Zelazny said.
He reaffirmed the importance of the millage, the purpose it serves in the community, and how vital funds from the millage are to ensure programming for seniors continue.
"The revenue is an important piece to the survival of these programs," he said. "It is very important because the thing is if this were to not pass there are a lot of things that would go by the way side."
Early voting began over the weekend and Zelazny encouraged residents of Alpena County to exercise their right to vote on Aug. 4.
Kayla Wikaryasz can be reached at 989-358-5688 or kwikaryasz@TheAlpenaNews.com.