Leelanau Commissioners reach 11th-hour compromise, will continue to fund voter-approved early childhood services

A poster from the Early Childhood Development program millage, which voters passed in November 2019.

By Jacob Wheeler

Sun editor

UPDATE: Early childhood services WILL NOT be starved of funding. The Leelanau County Board of Commissioners unanimously reached a bipartisan compromise late on Tuesday, September 21, to continue to fund the early childhood services program, albeit at 0.1988 mills rather than the 0.2488 mills which voters approved in November 2019. The new amount will provide approximately $620,710 for 2022 programming. Commissioner Rick Robbins, a Republican and sometimes considered the body’s swing vote, proposed the motion, which was approved by all three Democrats and his fellow three Republicans.

Tonight at 7 p.m. the Leelanau County Board of Commissioners will vote on whether to defund a popular early childhood development services program offered by the Benzie-Leelanau District Health Department, which voters passed in a millage levy two years ago.

Last Tuesday, the four Republicans on the Board voted for a surprise motion to reduce the program’s budget to zero, which advocates say would effectively ground the program just as it reaches flying altitude. County Board chair William Bunek—a sometimes fiscal hawk and outspoken activist for conservative causes—made the proposal to reduce the millage from 0.2488 mills to 0 mills. That would starve the program of $730,000 in revenues per year, between now and 2024.

The program launched this year on June 20 following a slow start caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. Since then, 38 families have received 174 home visits, 34 playgroups were held in five different locations in Leelanau County, and 64 families participated. More than 80 people attended the program’s first community-based family event this summer. An upcoming “Mom Power” program, offering evidence-based therapeutic intervention, is already full with nine mothers and 14 children participating, and includes a growing waitlist.

All three Democrats voted against the measure last week to defund the early childhood services program. According to commissioner Ty Wessell, no one from the Health Department, the County Board or staff had been consulted about the sudden effort to slash the millage.

Leelanau County voters passed the millage by a mere 99 votes in November 2019, as majorities in five of seven districts supported the initiative. At the time, four of seven Commissioners supported the early childhood services program—three Democrats and one Republican, Tony Ansorge, who represented the swing vote. Republican Rick Robbins, who has since taken Ansorge’s seat, voted with fellow Republicans Bunek, Melinda Lautner, and Deb Rushton last week to defund the program.

Investing in young families

The impetus for the early childhood development services program—as expressed by early childhood specialist Maggie Sprattmoran in an op-ed the Glen Arbor Sun published in October 2019, and in an online editorial we published days before the November 2019 vote (that editorial won an award from the Michigan Press Association)—was that it offered voters “the opportunity to make a significant difference for families raising young children and to entice young families to move to the County. Because, healthy resilient families are the backbone of a thriving community.”

The well documented “rate of return” on services such as the millage will fund is up to $5.70 per dollar spent. As economist James Heckman insists: “Early childhood programs pay dividends for life.” There is no other period during which we have such an opportunity to strengthen lifelong outcomes; building healthy brains builds strong and resilient foundations for life.”

“Leelanau has a proud history of supporting our senior citizens through organizations such as ShareCare,” the Glen Arbor Sun wrote in 2019. “Now we should stand up for our youngest citizens as well. (The population 5 and under totals nearly 1,000.)”

Last week Bunek voted to approve the senior services millage, even as he moved to defund the early childhood millage.

Much of the money raised in the early childhood services millage funds three community health workers, a part-time coordinator, and two social workers who implement home visits, playgroups, parenting groups, and health resource connections for families—many of whom feel isolated in our rural communities. The millage also funds mental health services and a mobile dental program. According to the Leelanau County Equalization Department, 90 percent of Leelanau property owners pay less than $4.50 per month for the proposal—less than the cost of a beer or a meal at a Leelanau County establishment.

“Parenting is one of the most challenging and impactful roles a person can experience,” wrote Sprattmoran. “Despite our intentions and dreams for our families, life happens. Conditions, often beyond our control, throw curveballs that demand our attention and often diminish our energy, dreams and intentions in the face of the current reality.”

“At every other period of child rearing, we, and our children, are supported by publicly available supports—such as the K-12 school system. And yet, in the early childhood years, the single most important period for healthy development and lifelong resilience, we have no ready access to thought partners, people who understand child development and parenting or trustworthy information.”

While Leelanau County is home to many wealthy families and grandiose second homes, it’s also home to working families who live from one paycheck to the next.

Students in low-income areas often face food insecurity. They don’t know where their next meal may come from, let alone if it will be a healthy option. As an example, a story the Sun published in August 2019 reported that a whopping 57 percent of students enrolled in Suttons Bay Elementary School in 2018 were considered economically disadvantaged and qualified for free and reduced-price meals. In Michigan a family of four that makes less than $32,630 per year qualifies for the program.”

Move to defund “awoke a sleeping giant”

Patricia Soutas-Little, a Democrat on the Board of Commissioners and a primary advocate for the childhood development services program, said that last week’s move by Bunek and other Republicans “awoke a sleeping giant” in Leelanau County.

A “listening session” held by the Board yesterday afternoon was attended by all commissioners except Robbins. According to Soutas-Little, 41 people testified for just under two hours, as members of the public packed both the Commission room and the overflow Community room. The Board received 150 emails, almost all in favor of continued funding for the program and decrying the attempt to overturn the will of voters.\

“Hopefully that commissioners will come to realize that you can’t cut a program that has only been growing for three months and has had very impressive attendance,” Soutas-Little told the Sun. “They need a year. If the millage sets to zero, it nullifies the early childhood millage because service would stop the first few months of 2022. Those on the waiting list (which is why they need to add staff) would never get to see the service. It’s a lot more than just a reduction in the millage.”

Bunek’s opposition to early childhood services

In defending his move to cut funding, Bunek pointed out that the program has spent less than $200,000 per year over the last 18 months and currently has a fund balance of more than $400,000.

“If their spending stays the same, they’ll have two years supply of funding,” Bunek told the Sun yesterday. “We don’t need to fund it for a year if they have twice what they need in there to do what they do.”

Soutas-Little countered that the program spent far less in 2020 because the arrival of COVID-19 shut the door for in-home visits and parent education programs.

“I was amazed that they were able to launch in March 2020 with talented community workers. Much of the year was spent reaching out by phone and dropping off activities, even though they couldn’t enter homes. 

“They were a mainstay during COVID for so many, but there weren’t many expenses. What they did was to spend a lot of time finetuning programs and conducting a survey so they could tailor the program to the parents’ needs.”

Soutas-Little added that the current fund balance doesn’t cover the second two quarters of 2021, during which the program will spend between $210,000 and $230,000. The carryover into 2022 would be less than $200,000 if the program is defunded, she said.

Bunek also questioned the support for the millage in November 2019, even though the measure passed by 99 votes.

“It was the only issue on the ballot during on an off-year, non-normal election,” Bunek told the Sun. “It really had poor turnout. 83 percent of voters didn’t vote or voted no.”

At the Board meeting last Tuesday, Democratic commissioner Gwenne Allgaier charged that Bunek’s defund proposal disregarded citizen support for the millage.

“This is a constitutional republic,” Bunek answered at the meeting. “When the people make a wrong decision, we are here to make sure that that doesn’t go on. That’s the idea of a republic.”

“You just said that if a public vote is taken and we think it’s wrong, it’s our job to nullify it?” Allgaier followed.

“Yes,” Bunek replied, “That’s exactly it.”

A funding compromise?

Asked yesterday whether he meant to eliminate the early childhood services program entirely or simply reduce its cost, Bunek told the Sun he would entertain a compromise tonight.

“It’s not about defunding the program. It’s about making the taxation appropriate,” he said.

“If we don’t need to tax people this year, and we can cover the program with what’s in the budget, we can revisit it next year.”

Bunek added that he worries about Leelanau County residents living on $650 per month who say they can’t afford to pay the approximately $50 per year someone who owns a home worth $150,000 would pay.

Soutas-Little hopes her colleagues across the aisle will see the value in funding early childhood services.

“I hope the Republicans will come back with a different number,” she said. “I hope they’ll see the value of this program. You can reduce it by a bit, but you need the money to run the program into 2023.”