from “le détroit” · the strait
Wayne and Oakland county voters decide Nov. 3 on a 0.2-mill, ten-year levy that backers say would give every county resident free admission to the Charles H. Wright Museum and the Detroit Historical Society.
On Nov. 3, voters in Wayne and Oakland counties will decide whether a small property tax makes two of the region's best-known museums free to anyone who lives in the two counties.
The proposal is a 0.2 mill levy for ten years, 2026 through 2035, run by a body called the Southeast Michigan Public Historical Museum Authority. On a home valued at $300,000, the tax would amount to about $30 a year. The ballot language estimates it would raise roughly $17,733,800 in its first year.
The money would go to the Charles H. Wright Museum of African American History and the Detroit Historical Society, which operates the Detroit Historical Museum in Midtown and the Dossin Great Lakes Museum on Belle Isle. Together the two organizations care for more than 300,000 artifacts owned by the public.
If it passes, residents of Wayne and Oakland counties would receive free admission to both museums. Right now only small children and museum members get in free. Students and seniors would also receive free transportation for tours.
"Free transportation for students and seniors is one of the core promises of this millage, and we intend to deliver it quickly," said Chris Moyer, a spokesperson for the Yes to Our Story campaign. The goal is to have buses rolling in 2027.
Fifteen percent of the amount that comes in from the millage would be collected by the counties and given to other historical institutions in each one, so smaller local museums share in the money too.
For the two big institutions, a dedicated millage would trade an annual fundraising scramble for what backers call stable, publicly audited funding. Neil A. Barclay, president and CEO of the Wright, has described the math plainly: "The model we have for The Wright, I can say we have to generate $10 million every 12 months."
Elana Rugh, president and CEO of the Detroit Historical Society, framed the stakes wider: "This region has three centuries of history worth knowing, and it belongs to everyone who lives here."
Early in-person voting began Saturday, Oct. 24. Polls are open across both counties on Election Day, Tuesday, Nov. 3.
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