Millage Renewal Information

Put simply, you can expect JDL to continue to provide great customer service, robust collections, literacy resources, and up-to-date and accessible buildings. Since the millage is a renewal and not an increase, officials plan to continue:

- Maintaining 13 library locations across Jackson County, serving 27 municipalities, and partnering with all Jackson County schools.

- Employing more than 140 staff.

- Refreshing and renovating JDL's locations to improve accessibility and better serve you.

- Offering over 2 million books, movies, video games, and more.

Without 90% of JDL's funding, you can expect some serious changes to how the district operates, including longer holds lists, staffing changes, open hours changes, and the delay of building projects.

Property taxes are calculated based on the taxable value of a piece of property. The rate by which property is taxed is called a mill. A millage is the amount per $1,000 of a property's taxable value.

To calculate the amount generated from a millage, a property owner would divide the taxable value of their home by 1,000 and then multiply that sum by the proposed 1.7411 millage rate.

(Taxable Value / 1,000) x 1.7411 = Annual Cost

Click this link to find the taxable value of your property.

Jackson County voters approved a 1.7593 millage in 2016 but due to a 1978 Michigan law that rate drops if property values grow faster than inflation.

JDL officials do not see a need to increase the rate and instead are asking for a renewal of the current, adjusted rate.

Use of the library in Jackson County is high, and we expect it to grow in the future.

- JDL has more than 1,000 people visit our locations every day.

- More than 500 new library cards are issued each month, on average.

- Nearly 1.5 million items were checked out in 2023.

- In a recent survey of Jackson County residents, nearly 40% said they use the library on a weekly basis.

- Participation in Summer Discover grew by nearly 6% in 2024 and there was a 22.2% increase in minutes read.

Shall the Jackson District Library, County of Jackson, be authorized to levy a millage annually in an amount not to exceed 1.7411 mills ($1.7411 per $1,000 of taxable value), which is a renewal of the millage rate that expires in 2024, against all taxable property within the Jackson District Library district for a period of eight (8) years, 2025 to 2032, inclusive, for the purpose of providing funds for all district library purposes authorized by law? The estimate of the revenue the Jackson District Library will collect in the first year of levy (2025) if the millage is approved and levied by the District Library is approximately $10,750,000. A portion of the revenue collected may be subject to capture by the Brownfield Redevelopment Authorities of the City of Jackson, Blackman Charter Township, Leoni Township, Columbia Township, and Summit Township.