IONIA COUNTY, Mich. — Ionia County voters will decide the future of MSU Extension programs in their community this August, when a millage proposal appears on the ballot.
MSU Extension provides education, training, and programs on agriculture and agribusiness, health and nutrition, children and youth development, and community, food, and environment.
WATCH: Ionia County voters to decide fate of MSU Extension programs in August millage vote
The organization is funded through a partnership with federal, state, and county governments. MSU Extension explained Ionia County has asked residents to fund the county portion by supporting the millage proposal.
If approved, the millage would cost homeowners 17 cents on every $1,000 of taxable value of real and tangible personal property. For a home with a taxable value of $100,000, that amounts to an extra $17 per year.
Bill Hendrian, the District 8 director for MSU Extension, said the stakes are high if the measure fails.
"County funding was reduced this year and we had to reduce staff. If we are not able to secure local funding for 2027, we will lose programs and staff."
For Shawndra Cross, a Lake Odessa resident who comes from a fourth-generation MSU Extension family, the vote is personal.
"There's over 200 programs through MSU Extension and I believe in all of them and the benefits they have to everybody in Ionia County,” Cross said.
Her son, Kaiden Smith, has participated in various MSU Extension programs since he was 5 years old. He credits those experiences with helping him land his first job.
"Having that experience, reaching out to people, and talking to people, helped me have the confidence to walk into my current place of employment and ask for a job," Smith said.
Cross recently created the Friends of Ionia MSU Extension group, hoping future generations will have access to the same resources her family has benefited from. The group held its first meeting Monday night at Greenstone Farm Credit Services.
Cross said she is committed to seeing the millage succeed.
"I am doing everything that I can to make sure that the millage passes,” Cross said.
She said her goal is clear.
"My #1 goal is to make sure this millage passes, the programs stay around, and that people are utilizing it."
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