Historical groups vote to oppose millage request
The Presque Isle County Board of Commissioners has placed a millage proposal on the November ballot that would raise funds for “historical preservation” purposes in the county. Interestingly, most of the historical organizations in the county want nothing to do with it.
The wording on the ballot asked for .25 mills for a five-year period through 2020 “for the purpose of providing funds for historical preservation services in Presque Isle County.” The millage would rains as an estimated $196,700, the ballot reads. The ballot does not specify which historical organizations would benefit from the millage or how the funds would be distributed.
THE SIX organizations that belong to the Historical Partnership of Presque Isle County (Historical Partnership) have voted unanimously to oppose the millage proposal. The Historical Partnership, a non-profit organization formed in 2014 includes the Glawe School Committee, Great Lakes Lore Maritime Museum, Millersburg Depot Historical Museum Society, Onaway Area Historical Museum, Presque Isle County Historical Museum, and the Metz Fire Trailside Historical Park. Two representatives from each organization sit on the partnership’s governing board.
Mark Thompson, executive director of the Presque Isle County Historical Museum and president of the Historical Partnership, said that a few days before the deadline to get a millage proposal on the November ballot, the county board scuttled the Historical Partnership’s proposal and substituted language that gives the commissioners total control over the revenue that would be generated.
“The ballot proposal contains no details on how the funds would be allocated,” said Thompson, “and the county board doesn’t intend to deal with that issue until after the election. There is no guarantee that any of us will get the funding we so badly need. In fact, there’s no guarantee that we will get any money at all. Without knowing how the funds will be distributed, there is no way we can support the proposal and we strongly encourage voters to turn it down.”
For the past year, the members of the Historical Partnership had been working with the county board to place a millage proposal on the ballot in an effort to generate badly needed funding. The partnership’s proposal was based on a system that has been in place in Bay County for the past 13 years. Under their plan, funds raised from the millage would have been allocated by the partnership to historical organizations in the county in the form of subsidies to assist with overhead expenses, grants for specific programs and activities, and emergency grants or loans to cover unanticipated major expenses, such as repairs to a roof or replacement of a furnace. The partnership would have been required to submit its budget to the county board of Commissioners for approval and to provide them with monthly financial reports.
THE HISTORICAL Partnership was created with the intent to ask voters for .25 mills to support historical organizations and activities. The partnership would also aggressively pursue additional funding from a variety of foundations.
It was hoped that the historical organizations would be able to employ professional staff or consultants with education and experience in museum management a
The officers and directors, staff of the partner organizations, and volunteers, none of whom will be paid, would perform the activities of the corporation.
As it stands, the boards of the Historical Partnership organizations hope the millage fails and the county board returns to the original plan proposed by the group.