Committee of the Whole Meeting 10/15/2026

Berrien County’s Committee of the Whole met on October 15, 2026. The county equalization director presented the annual apportionment report, covering certified property-tax rate requests and taxable values across county taxing jurisdictions. The county’s operating millage has declined from 5.425 to 4.7427 mills through historical rollbacks, a reduction estimated at about $7.7 million using 2026 taxable values. Commissioners also discussed the county’s upcoming FY2027 budget workshop, including a planned overview of departmental capital-project requests; the workshop materials were to be shared in advance. No contracts, bids, vendor selections, or procurement-related spending decisions were identified.

The administrator discussed improving commissioners’ access to public documents through an online repository and said Information Systems was working on a local-government AI policy for possible presentation at the budget workshop. Commissioners also discussed potentially reviewing the senior-center millage allocation language next year ahead of a 2028 vote. These were planning discussions, not approvals of purchases or funding. The board approved the prior meeting’s minutes; no procurement-related motion or spending vote was reported.