A controversial bond measure on ballots in Birmingham that would've funded a $57.4-million parking deck in the downtown — and opened the door to much more construction, by private developers, at a projected total of $133 million — was soundly defeated by voters Tuesday in the affluent city 5 miles north of Detroit.

The tally was of 3,956 (68.23%) no votes to 1,842 (31.77%) yes votes. The hotly debated measure would not have added a penny to property taxes in Birmingham. Every cent of the bond is to be paid off over 30 years with parking revenues, according to a city fact sheet.

Yet those in opposition formed two groups and the city has been dotted with dueling yard signs.

"I'm gratified that all the hard work we did paid off, and I'm grateful that Birmingham residents saw that this wasn't a free parking deck," said David Bloom, a co-founder of Birmingham Citizens for Responsible Government.

"This was about whether the residents or developers are running our town. There was a huge amount of money the other side spent to get people to vote yes, and our residents were smarter than that. The little people won," Bloom said.

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The proposal would have approved a bond sale to finance a new parking deck with expanded capacity, replacing the city's existing 53-year-old North Old Woodward deck, and it would have allowed for construction of adjacent private retail space as well as the extension of Bates Street to Old Woodward. A much larger project was to follow on neighboring land.

On Tuesday night, city officials released the following statement: "The City of Birmingham would like to thank everyone that voted on the ballot proposal for funding to replace the North Old Woodward parking structure and related street extension project.

"This ballot proposal did not pass and the lack of funding for the public elements will not allow the project to proceed. As the City continues to work to address the growing demand for parking in the downtown, it will look to implement parking mitigation programs in the near term until a permanent solution is advanced."

The City would like to also thank the various committees that participated in the development of this project for their work over the past few years. As we look forward in evaluating the parking demands of the downtown and our parking infrastructure needs, we welcome your thoughts and ideas in developing these community solutions.

Debate over the bond measure issue became heated in July when city officials blocked comments by Bloom and others at City Commission meetings, claiming that their speech amounted to "political advocacy" and thus could not be broadcast over the city's cable TV system. The critics, asserting a free speech right, sued last month in federal court. Although the case is not scheduled for a hearing until Sept. 4, a federal judge in Detroit on Monday issued a rare temporary restraining order, directing the city to let the critics speak on election eve at Monday night's City Commission meeting.

Bloom and Clinton Baller both spoke.

"As I told the commission (on Monday night), their pretexts to stop us from talking have crumbled," Baller said Tuesday night.

"Any reasonable person would conclude that their motivation was solely to silence our criticism. Clearly, the commission is out of touch with voters," said Baller, who formed Balance 4 Birmingham, a political action committee that spent $15,000 to $20,000, he said.

Campaign finance records show that the group favoring a yes vote, Yes Birmingham, took in $180,000 and spent about $125,000 in a recent filing. Post-election records may show more spending.

Bloomfield Township

Another divisive ballot measure animated voters in Bloomfield Township, where a special assessment district — aimed at raising more than $9 million in property tax revenue in its first year for police and fire service was defeated.

Bloomfield Township residents tallied 6,678 (62.2%) no votes to 4,058 (37.8%) yes votes for the measure. It would have added up to 2.30 mills to property taxes, or $2.30 per $1,000 of taxable value, for the next 15 years — for a total of $135 million during the period of the assessment.

The proposal faced opposition from a group of citizens who said taxes should not rise in the township but, instead, spending should be trimmed.

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Contact Bill Laitner: blaitner@freepress.com