About 1 p.m., I showed up at Elmhurst Elementary School in Lansing to vote on today’s millage increase proposal, figuring there would be at least a small line because it was at the lunch hour.
I was the only voter in the school’s gymnasium. Four elections workers seemed delighted to have an actual “customer” in the room. One mentioned that turnout in the Colonial Village neighborhood, which has high numbers of retired, active voters, was about 10 percent so far today, or 100 voters.
This would seem to bode well for passage of the proposed millage increase. Typically, in such elections, one can always count on a committed core of supporters to vote “yes” on increasing taxes; large turnouts mean greater numbers of “no” voters – and a greater chance of defeating the measure.
Convention wisdom, though, can be wrong. Within a few hours, city residents will find out how bare the city coffers will be.
