By: Mike Koury | Southfield Sun | Published October 29, 2025
LATHRUP VILLAGE — Residents in Lathrup Village have two proposals on the ballot for the Nov. 4 election.
The ballot proposals are for a charter amendment that deals with Lathrup Village’s election laws and a Headlee override millage proposal.
According to City Administrator Mike Greene, the city is trying to match current state election laws with the amendment.
The charter amendment’s ballot language reads, “Shall the City of Lathrup Village Charter be amended to eliminate conflicts with the state constitution and election laws. This proposed Charter amendment would: 1. Modify the commencement date of an elected official’s term until after certification of the election results; 2. Extend the time for elected officials to take the oath of office to allow for certification of the election results; 3. Delay the organizational meeting of the City Council until after certification of the election results. Should this proposal be adopted?”
“Like a lot of communities, we were founded a long time ago. Our charter outlined how our elections work and when the City Council would take effect and things of that nature,” he said. “Over the past few years, though, with the expansion of absentee voting and things like that, the state has changed when they formalize and certify elections. So, all this charter amendment is looking to do is allow for the elections to be certified before we officially onboard our new City Council.”
The Headlee override proposal looks to reset two of Lathrup Village’s millages. One would restore the city’s millage for its general operating expenses from 17.3 mills back to its maximum of 20 mills, and its millage for sanitation from approximately 2.5 mills to 3 mills.
As stated by Greene, a Headlee rollback is the reduction of a local government’s authorized property tax millage.
“So, every now and then, every year when property values rise faster than inflation, cities are required to roll back their millage,” he said. “After a few years, it starts to drastically limit our potential to capture revenue in the city, even though expenses continue to rise. So, based off state law, we’re allowed to go ask the voters to restore our millage to our charter authorized rate.”
The ballot language reads, “Shall a ‘Headlee Override’ be adopted so that the current limitation on the amount of City taxes that may be levied against all taxable property in the City of Lathrup Village, Oakland County, Michigan, be increased as follows:
“Restoring to 20 mills from approximately 17.3001 mills, per $1,000 of taxable value (to $20 from approximately $17.3001) for general operating expenses for a period of ten (10) years, and
“Restoring to 3 mills from approximately 2.5948 mills, per $1,000 of taxable value (to $3 from approximately $2.5948) for sanitation/rubbish for a period of ten (10) years.
“If approved and levied in its entirety, this millage would raise an estimated maximum amount of $611,909 for the City in 2026 by allowing the City to levy the maximum mills previously approved by the voters and authorized by the City Charter and State law which have been reduced as required by the Michigan Constitution of 1963.”
The sanitation millage includes trash and recycling, which the village has covered through a contract with the Southeastern Oakland County Resource Recovery Authority for its pickups of trash, recycling, brush and chipping services.
The general operating millage covers everything from administrative costs, public safety and parks to public works and the Building Department.
City Clerk Alisa Emanuel said Lathrup Village has close to 4,000 registered voters and more than 1,400 who vote via absentee ballot.
“There’s a lot that are still out there that haven’t been returned, but sometimes people just take their time getting them back,” she said.