Jackson College Millage fails with voters for 17th straight time

JACKSON, MI – Jackson College’s latest attempt to rebuild a mill has failed among voters, marking the 17th time it has failed since 1964.

The proposal, placed on the Nov. 5 ballot, failed by 40,439 votes to 33,464 in favor.

Connected: Live general election results for Tuesday, November 5th in Jackson County.

The proposal sought to restore the college’s original authorized charter rate of 1.33 mills, resulting in an increase of 0.1973 mills over the current 1.1327 mills.

“First, I thank Jackson County voters for their thoughtful consideration of Jackson College’s request to restore our original 1964 fare rate. While this is disappointing, I respect the outcome of the vote,” President Daniel Phelan said in an email to MLive. “Speaking as a whole, the College will continue to move forward serving the people of our community as we have done for the past 96 years.”

The 1.33 college mills approved in 1964 were repealed by the Headley Amendment, an amendment to the Michigan state constitution that limits increases in taxes collected to the rate of inflation.

Proceeds from Millage’s successful launch would be used entirely to expand job training, employment and vocational education programs, Phelan previously said.

Connected: Restoring Millage will help Jackson College promote vocational training, officials say

“Jackson College will continue to serve our communities with job training, career and professional development programs, and student internships, although this will occur at a slow pace and will not be as extensive as we had hoped if the mill restoration request had been accepted,” Phelan said.

The 1964 election marked the first and only time in the school’s history that millage was approved. Sixteen previous millage attempts were rejected by voters. last time in 2023when a 10-year bond issue asking for the same amount was not passed by voters.

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