Bloomfield Hills residents will decide Nov. 3 whether to renew a property tax that pays for their access to the Baldwin Public Library in Birmingham.

The library millage replacement, confirmed on Oakland County's official proposal list published Sept. 2, would authorize up to 0.52 mills for six years starting with the July 2027 levy. That works out to 52 cents per $1,000 of taxable value and is projected to raise about $440,405 in its first year.

The current millage expires in 2026. Without a renewal, Bloomfield Hills would lose its contract with Baldwin Public Library, which gives residents and local businesses the same borrowing privileges and services available to Birmingham cardholders.

The Bloomfield Hills City Commission voted 5-0 on July 14 to place the measure on the ballot. Commissioner Alice Buckley made the motion, seconded by Commissioner Alan Ackerman. City Manager David Hendrickson told commissioners the Baldwin Library contract renews automatically, but the millage funding it must go back to voters.

"The millage to fund the library has to be reconsidered by the voters on the November 2026 ballot," Hendrickson said at the July 14 meeting.

The city's relationship with Baldwin dates to 2011. According to a city fact sheet published in 2020, 1,196 Bloomfield Hills residents held library cards at that time, representing 31% of the city's population of 3,869. Current cardholder figures were not available.

Bloomfield Township's $50M bond

Bloomfield Township voters face a separate, larger question on the same ballot: a $50 million bond to construct a new police station and a new Fire Station No. 3 on Maple Road.

The estimated first-year levy is 0.2350 mills, or about $23.50 per $100,000 of taxable value. Over the bonds' maximum 20-year life, the estimated average annual levy rises to 0.4380 mills, according to county records.

The township board voted Aug. 10 to place the public safety building bond on the ballot. A broader option that would have included a public services building was denied. Supervisor Mike McCready contracted with Redstone Architects in September 2023 to assess police and fire facility needs, and the board hired the Smith Group in September 2025 to develop campus designs, as the Bulletin reported in August.

The bond is separate from the public safety millage renewal and road maintenance millage renewal that appeared on the Aug. 4 primary ballot.

Other countywide measures

The Nov. 3 ballot also carries two countywide millage proposals: a 0.10-mill, 10-year renewal for the Oakland County Zoological Authority supporting the Detroit Zoo, and a new 0.2-mill, 10-year levy for the Southeast Michigan Public Historical Museum Authority. Two statewide proposals round out the ballot.

Election day is Tuesday, Nov. 3.