All Districts — Both the Ready by Five Early Childhood millage renewal and the Kent District Library’s one-year gap millage passed at Tuesday’s primary election.
According to unofficial vote tallies as reported by the Kent County Clerk’s office, the Ready by Five’s no-tax increase renewal of .25 mills passed with 70,313 yes votes to 48,787 no votes, and the KDL’s one-year, non-renewable millage of 1.1 mills passed with 59,321 yes votes to 30,200 no votes.
Ready by Five Early Childhood Millage
“We are grateful to our residents and voters for the strong support of the early childhood millage and confident that Ready by Five will continue to ensure our children are healthy and ready for kindergarten,” said Jennifer Headley-Nordman, president of First Steps, which administers the Ready by Five millage for Kent County.
The .25 mill, six-year renewal will generate about $8.8 million in its first year and be used to expand access to early childhood programming. According to Ready by Five, the cost to an owner of a home valued at $300,000 would be about $37.50 per year, or $3.13 per month.
The Ready by Five millage has provided funding to 18 community-based organizations such as the Great Start to Quality Kent Resource Center, Bright Beginnings, Help Me Grow Kent and the Great Start Collaborative.
Kent District Library
Kent County voters also approved the non-renewable gap millage of 1.1 mills for the library’s 2025 operations. The millage is estimated to generate about $27.6 million for the year and cost the average homeowner in the library network’s service area $145.75, according to KDL.
“On behalf of the entire library staff and board, I want to extend our gratitude for your overwhelming support in passing our gap millage election,” said KDL Executive Director Lance Werner. “Your commitment ensures that our library can continue to serve as a vital resource for education, inspiration and connection within our community.
“Thank you for believing in the power of our library and investing in its future.”
Kent County voters approved a 15-year renewal millage for KDL in November 2023, but the approved ballot language does not give KDL the authority to assess the new millage until December 2025, resulting in a one-year funding gap.
KDL serves more than 440,000 residents in 27 municipalities through 20 branches, which includes the KDL Kelloggsville branch at Kelloggsville High School. KDL also has a bookmobile, offers more than 6,400 programs and outreach efforts, and hosts services such as in-branch printer/Wi-Fi access, loanable mobile hotspots, early literacy initiatives, and the Talking Book & Braille Center. KDL also helped set-up a satellite branch at the Godfrey-Lee East Campus.
Along with its school partnerships, KDL has provided resources to teachers and has maintained summer programs, such as its Summer Wonder reading program, for students to continue their learning.
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