Wayne County voters on Tuesday approved a ballot proposal to maintain funding for Wayne County parks and another that would remove a limit on how long an auditor can serve the county.
About 74% of Wayne County voters supported Proposition P, a millage renewal to fund operations, maintenance and upgrades of the county’s 5,600-acre parks system, according to unofficial results from the Aug. 6 primary election.
The tax is expected to raise $14.47 million in 2026. The levy of just under a quarter of a million will cost homeowners with a taxable value of $100,000 $24.42 per year on their winter tax bill.
A BridgeDetroit analysis of county budget reports found that Detroit taxpayers paid over $2 million into the county’s parks fund in the last fiscal year alone, the most of any of Wayne County’s 43 municipalities.
A status report on millage-funded projects shows that $900,000 contributed to the millage by Detroit taxpayers since 2021 has been invested in improving at least 15 city parks, putting Detroit residents at the top of the list of cities with the highest cash spend and the highest cash return.
Parks that have already been improved or will be improved in the future, according to the report, include Johnston, Sasser, Van Antwerp, Eliza Howell and Voigt. In recent years, millage money has been used to make improvements at Perrien and Pingree Park, among others.
Separately, Wayne County voters approved Proposition A, a ballot proposal that would repeal the county charter requirement to appoint a new auditor at least every eight years.
The proposal, which received 54% of the vote, will allow any qualified firm to be awarded a contract for audit services if the contract is awarded through a competitive tendering process.
In 1996, voters approved a ballot question that transferred responsibility for hiring an outside firm from the Wayne County government to the Auditor General.
The mandatory rotation of audit firms was a reform to improve auditor independence and audit quality.
“It’s really unusual that there is a charter provision that requires a change or selection of a new auditor every eight years,” Mark Abbo, former Wayne County treasurer, told Outlier Media.
Wayne County voters narrowly rejected a similar proposal in 2012.
A third proposal on the ballot, Proposition L, was approved by 85% of Detroit voters. The millage generates most of the Detroit Public Library’s operating budget.
Here is a list of results from Tuesday’s election. For more election news, visit BridgeDetroit.com.
