Kalamazoo County Veterans Service Office and the Veterans Service Millage

The Kalamazoo County Veterans Service Office is the county's veterans office, part of the Department of Health & Community Services at 311 E. Alcott Street, Kalamazoo, program line 269-373-5361, open by appointment 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. on weekdays, with Supervisor Lauren King leading it. The Veterans Affairs Committee "is responsible for administering the County Veteran Service Office which coordinates and administers benefits to veterans": seven members appointed to four-year terms, paid $30 a meeting, sitting on the second Tuesday at 1 p.m. at Health & Community Services, with a county commissioner as liaison. The Board updated the committee's bylaws in November 2025 and reappointed members in March 2026. What it does. Its accredited service officers develop VA compensation claims, help dependents and survivors, apply for health care, obtain military records and medals, and take Michigan Veterans Trust Fund applications; its page publishes document checklists for pension, survivors pension, compensation, DIC and Aid and Attendance. It runs the county's own help: emergency financial aid, food and gas vouchers and the burial benefit (each its own entry), plus a Stand Down with the Area Agency on Aging's Senior Expo (122 veterans on October 7, 2025), the annual Veterans Day ceremony, Operation Green Light each November 4 to 11, a holiday food programme and a Veteran of the Year award. The millage. County voters approved a veterans service millage of 0.1 mill at the November 7, 2023 election, authorized through December 31, 2032, per the budget book's millage table; the fund description says it pays for "dedicated services and programs to Kalamazoo County veterans and United States military service, National Guard, and Reserves, and their dependents, including providing funding for the County Department of Veterans' Services". The first levy, in 2024, brought in $1,063,715, and the FY2026 budget is $1,376,800, including a $105,500 State grant and $80,000 of other financing sources, with $621,323 restricted fund balance held at the end of FY2025. What the millage pays for. The county's own veteran service fund grant was $98,728 in FY2025; for FY2027 the eligible State award is $117,228, of which $33,114 had been applied for by August 2026 with the rest to follow by amendment. The millage absorbed the VSO's Customer Service Specialist position when the State grant could not be assumed (September 2025), created a Veteran Service Specialist position in April 2026, on a salary of $53,518 to $73,237, because appointments were booked one and a half to three weeks out, and hired an administrative assistant in August 2026. KCVAC motions move money within the millage between relief, dental, special events and reserves.