Understanding the two proposed LMC Millage renewals on the ballot

BENTON TOWNSHIP, Mich. --  Lake Michigan College has two millages that expire in 2026. One of the millages is LMC’s operational millage of 0.665 mills. Al Pscholka, Vice President of Enrollment, Marketing, and Government Relations at Lake Michigan College, says this is critical funding that pays for 20 percent of its operational budget. That makes up for about $9 million of the around $44 million budget.

“One is our operational millage. It pays 20% of our budget, and it's been in place for nearly 50 years. It was first passed in 1987, so it is critical funding,” said Pscholka. This locks in the rate until 2046.

“If we lost that, we would have to cut our budget by 20%. We would reduce programs, we would reduce services. We would reduce jobs. It would be a major disruption of all the things that we do in the college. We are the number one provider of healthcare workers, manufacturing. This place is a big driver of the economy. It has an economic and social impact of $371 million a year, and was just named the number one community college in Michigan,” said Pscholka.

He says they renewed one millage in 2023 for 20 years, but this one on the ballot now was last voted on in 2006. The second millage from 2016 would be renewed for ten years. LMC says this will lower property taxes by .24 mills until 2036 at least.

“The second millage is a capital millage, and that pays for buildings, equipment, maintenance, and infrastructure. What we're proposing to do is to cut it in half, have a tax cut on the ballot, because there's a lot of uncertainty in the economy. We've always been good stewards of public money, and we think taxpayers deserve a break, so we're cutting that in half,” said Pscholka.

Pscholka explains how its budget is broken up.

“Community colleges like us are funded 51% with property tax, 27% tuition, 15% state appropriations, and 7% private or grant-funded sources,” said Pscholka.

The Berrien County GOP has voiced opposition to the millage renewals on the ballot.
Victory Woodall, Secretary of the Berrien County Republican Party, pointed to a few reasons why the Berrien County GOP opposes the millages. “We feel that Lake Michigan College has really been mismanaging their funds. They get quite a bit of taxpayer property tax revenue,” said Woodall.

Woodall says Lake Michigan College should trim expenses and cut back, saying people are losing their homes in Berrien County because they can't afford the property taxes.

“They have a 13:1 student-teacher ratio, and that's very, very low. They should really have more like an 18:1 or 25:1 student-teacher ratio. Anything less than that is really just wasting our money. So, they really need to scale back their programs and scale back their faculty based on the student population, like they do not have the headcount to justify that much faculty and that many expenses on the faculty side,” said Woodall.

Pscholka says they have money in their reserves, clean audits, and are top-rated by credit agency bureaus. Additionally, Pscholka says last year showed higher enrollment than the previous year, and they are anticipating the same thing for 2025.

He says Smart Asset, a financial firm, ranked Lake Michigan College as the number one community college in Michigan last year, and in the top 30 in the United States. He says part of that is based on the student-to-faculty ratio, as well as retention rates and affordability.
Arthur Havlicek is the President and CEO Southwest Michigan Chamber of Commerce.

“The Southwest Michigan Regional Chamber is the voice for business in the region. Felt it important to come out and strongly endorse Lake Michigan College's two millage renewals on the ballot today,” said Havlicek.

Havlicek says Lake Michigan College plays a big role in economic and workforce development in the local labor force.
“So, our organization talks a lot about prosperity, and for us, a yes vote on these renewals is a ‘Yes’ vote for prosperity. The work that Lake Michigan College does in our community, to upskill talent, to retain talent in our community, to partner with business and industry. It's a critical part of what keeps our economy moving forward, and it has an economic impact of over $370 million every year,” said Havlicek.