One of the choices awaiting all Cass County voters next week will be whether or not to help fund the county’s 911 emergency service during the primary election, which takes place on Tuesday.

A proposal to renew the millage for the sheriff’s office central dispatch will be on the ballot next week. The millage will call for a one-fifth mill ($.20) per $1,000 against all taxable property in the county, with the dollars going to toward covering the costs of the dispatch service.

The sheriff’s office is seeking the renewed tax levy in order to help offset costs of running 911 service in the county. According to the county, the local telephone surcharge approved by the Michigan Public Service Commission is less than sufficient to cover operational costs.

If passed, the millage is expected to raise more than $376,000 the first year it is enacted. The language of the proposal states that the levy will be enacted on Dec. 1, 2014, ending on Dec. 1 of 2017.

The sheriff’s office requested that the ballot be added to the upcoming primary election in March. The language of the proposal was adopted by the county later that month by the county board of commissioners.

The previous millage was passed by county voters during the general election back in 2009, with the levy ending in December of 2013.

The full text of the resolution is:

Shall the constitutional tax rate limitation in the County of Cass be renewed 1/5 mill ($.20) per thousand dollars against all taxable property in the County of Cass for a period of 4 years beginning with the December 1, 2014 levy and ending with the December 1, 2017 levy so as to provide funding for the operation of the “9-1-1” Central Dispatch? If approved and levied in its entirety on December 1, 2014, this millage would raise an estimated $376,822 in the first year.