Millage for Portage Lake District Library overwhelmingly passes

HOUGHTON — Voters say yes to the Library! That’s the outcome of yesterday’s election in the City of Houghton.

Any uncertainty as to how residents feel about their local library was answered by the poll tally. Residents of Portage Township and the City of Houghton demonstrated strong support of keeping the Portage Lake District Library open.

“The voters of the city of Houghton and Portage Township voted to overwhelmingly support our library,” said Library Director, Dillon Geshel. “They passed our seven year dedicated property tax renewal with 89 percent approval, which is the highest rate of approval we’ve seen since at least 1996. So we’re beyond thrilled to see not just that we have such high community support, but that we can continue doing important work in our community for the next seven years and beyond. We just want to give a big thanks to the voters that turned out to support our library.”

The seven-year millage renewal received 1,071 yes votes to only 131 voting against keeping the doors open. The millage is the primary funding source for the library and its programs, bringing in an estimated $460,000 in revenue annually.

There are about 5,200 residents in the district who have a library card.