Hazelton, Middlebury road millages land on Nov. 3 county ballot

Voters in two Shiawassee County townships will decide on Nov. 3 whether to keep paying for their own road work. The Shiawassee County Clerk's elections office has published the official ballot language, and it includes a 1.5-mill road renewal in Hazelton Township and a 2-mill road levy in Middlebury Township.

The Middlebury proposal is the one with a price tag attached. The ballot language says two mills — $2 for every $1,000 of a property's taxable value — would raise an estimated $124,282 in its first year, money the township says would go "exclusively" to construction, maintenance, repair and improvement of township roads. On a property with $60,000 in taxable value, that is $120 a year.

Middlebury's levy would run five years, from the 2026 tax levy year through 2030. According to the ballot language, it is legally a new additional millage because the township's previous road millage expired at the end of 2024. In plain terms, Middlebury property owners have gone two levy years without it, and a yes vote would put it back on the tax bill.

Hazelton Township's question is a straight renewal. The ballot language asks voters to allow up to 1.50 mills for five years, 2028 through 2032, replacing an authorization that expires in 2027. The stated purpose is graveling, upgrading and rebuilding township roads. The clerk's list does not include a first-year revenue estimate for Hazelton, so how much the renewal raises is not established by the document.

The Current reported on Sept. 2 that the clerk's unofficial list for the Nov. 3 ballot ran to 15 proposals countywide, including a $30.29 million Durand Area Schools building bond, three Corunna charter amendments, two Shiawassee Area Transportation Agency levies and a mandatory recycling fee in Hazelton Township. Hazelton voters, then, appear to have more than one money question in front of them this fall. County voters are also being asked to renew the 0.4942-mill senior services millage the county board sent to the ballot in July, which the county estimated would raise $1.37 million in its first year.

What happens next: the official proposal language published by the clerk is what appears on the ballot, and both township questions go to voters on Tuesday, Nov. 3. The desk has asked the clerk's office for Hazelton Township's first-year revenue estimate and for the complete official proposal list so we can confirm every question that made the final ballot.