Libertarians help defeat GRCC Millage (2nd) Request!

Libertarians in Kent County successfully held off the political establishment to help defeat the GRCC millage request for the second time in 3 months.

Local party Libertarians scored a huge victory Tuesday, August 7th by organizing and defeating the second GRCC millage request. GRCC's millage request was defeated in May by a close margin so college officials brought a new and slightly smaller proposal (0.56 mills down to 0.49 mills) to help fund expanded programs and keep tuition rates lower.

The price tag for the tax hike was $9.8 million which tax payers in Kent County will now have to invest in their own lives and the local economy.

The local Libertarians reformed a ballot question group tagged as Kent County Families for Fiscal Responsibility or the same name as in the May elections for the failed defeat of the Rapid Transit Authority millage.

The final GRCC millage vote in May failed by 780 votes and this time in August the margin of victory for the no votes was only 361. However, this is very impressive considering that there was nothing on the ballot in most of the county except the GRCC millage and nearly 7,000 more voters voted in Grand Rapids. This would have spelled certain defeat except that 3000 more voters in the outlying areas showed up to vote than did in May.

Despite being outspent by $100,000, the KCFFR group pushed literature in the outlying communities and ran an advertisement in the Advance newspapers in north Kent County. Dr. Eric Larson, who was spokesman for the group and a former chair of the LPWM, was interviewed on the radio and television before and after the election.