Kalamazoo County commissioners approved a new millage proposal on May 6. It's aimed at supporting child care in the county, with the issue going before voters on August 4.
If approved, the millage will create a roughly 50-cent property tax for every $1,000 of taxable value. A homeowner whose home is worth $200,000 on the market would pay about $50 a year.
Susan Rosas is the CEO of YWCA Kalamazoo, one of the groups advocating for the proposal.
She said it would be up to the county to decide exactly how to spend the money, but added, one recommendation is to increase wages for early childhood educators.
“Especially for children ages 0 to 3, teachers are making minimum wage. They could go work fast food and make more money and the job is really hard when you're caring for infants in particular and very young children.”
Rosas added that the money could also be put toward grants and programs aimed at increasing the amount of childcare that’s available in the county.
“We know that high-quality childcare is what steers children in a direction toward higher academic achievement, permanently higher income, higher health outcomes," Rosas said.
"There's a thousand reasons why high-quality early childhood education is critically important for the wellbeing of any community."
But not everyone was in favor of putting the proposed millage before voters.
Commissioner Tami Rey was one of three county board members who voted against putting the proposal on the ballot.
Rey said she was concerned about the length of the millage, which would be in effect for eight years.
She also mentioned that the millage would give the county a lot of discretion in how to spend the money on childcare.
“Yes, the voters ultimately have the say, but they don’t get to change the language. They don't get to steer the focus or what programs we're looking at," she said at the May 6 meeting.
Rey also suggested the millage funds should be focused on benefiting children aged 0 to 3, instead of the 0-to-5 range the millage proposes.
Michael Symonds reports for WMUK through the Report for America national service program.
