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News
By Allison Joy
CRYSTAL FALLS — Iron County saw only a marginal increase — about 1.5% — in its percentage of registered voters casting ballots last Tuesday, Feb. 27, according to the Iron County Clerk’s unofficial election summary report. This is compared to the last primary election held in March of 2020.
One of the more closely-contested millage requests on the ballot was an increase of funding for 911 services, which was approved by 63% of voters. It was the second of two millage requests to fund Central Dispatch on the ballot. The renewal of the existing millage passed with 73% of the vote. With both requests having passed, a total of 1.25 mills ($1.25 for every $1,000 in taxable value) will go toward Central Dispatch for a period of four years, expiring at the end of 2027.
A renewal request for the West Iron County District Library millage was approved with 65% of the vote. This is a renewal of the current 1.7373 mills through 2029 to fund local library services. A portion would go to the Brownfield Redevelopment Authority of Iron River — part of a state program that provides grants, loans and free environmental site assessments for the development of property that might be contaminated — as required by law. When the WIDL millage was last on the ballot in 2019, it passed with 76% of the vote.
A renewal request for the Iron County Medical Care Facility passed with 67% of the vote. This is a renewal of 1.5 mills for a period of five years, valid through 2028 to go toward operations for the Iron County Medical Care Facility. This millage was last up for a vote in 2019, when it passed with roughly 75% voting in favor.
A renewal request for the Dickinson-Iron District Health Department millage passed with 66% of the vote. This is a renewal of .42 mills for a period of four years for DIDHD operations. In 2020, over 75% of votes were in favor of renewing the current millage at that time, and 60% voted in favor of an additional increase.
Another of the more closely-contested millage requests on the ballot was a new request for the Dickinson-Iron Intermediate School District. It passed with 63% of voters in favor. This new millage of .5206 mills is to fund improvements to the district’s Career Technical Education Center in Kingsford. This millage was on the ballot for residents of Dickinson and Iron counties, as well as those of Faithorn Township.
Residents of Bates Township passed renewal of 3 mills through 2027, with 71% of votes cast in favor. Of that 3 mills, 2 mills would go toward general township purposes and 1 mill to road maintenance. When the millage was last on the ballot in 2019, it passed with 91% of votes cast in favor.
Just over 94% of voters participated in the presidential primary election — about a third of those votes were in the Democratic primary and two-thirds in the Republican primary. Of the Democratic voters, 82% voted for current President Joe Biden. Of the Republican voters, 78% voted for former president Donald Trump and 17% voted for former governor of South Carolina Nikki Haley, who served as United Nations ambassador during the Trump presidency.
More information on voting and elections in Iron County is available at ironmi.com/voting-and-elections.