Washtenaw County Department of Veterans Affairs and the Veterans Relief Millage

The Washtenaw County Department of Veterans Affairs is the county's department of veterans affairs under 1953 PA 192 (see the Michigan entry on county departments), with a five-member Veterans Affairs Committee. Its director is David G. Saims. What it does. Its county veteran service officers file claims for VA disability compensation, pension, education, home loans, life insurance and health care, survivors' benefits such as Dependency and Indemnity Compensation and Aid and Attendance, discharge upgrades and records requests, and for the county's own help: financial assistance, food, rent or mortgage, transportation, utilities, dental care, phone and internet, and funeral and burial reimbursements, federal and local. The county help comes from the Veterans Relief Fund (its own entry). The department's food voucher programme ended on December 13, 2023. Burial. The department lists local burial reimbursement but publishes no amount; the State floor is $300 (MCL 35.801; see the Michigan entry). Its burial page is a poor guide: it cites a commercial website and AARP rather than VA, and says VA pays "up to $1,000 for service-connected deaths", where VA pays up to $2,000 for a death since September 11, 2001, and $1,032 plus $1,032 for a plot for other deaths from October 1, 2026. Ask a service officer. The millage. Washtenaw County voters approved a 0.1 mill veterans relief levy at the November 8, 2016 election, according to the County's 2022 L-4029, and have since renewed it to December 2031; the Board's May 2026 resolution setting the 2026 levies put it at 0.0991 mill. The money goes to a restricted Veterans' Trust fund, whose balance was $6,626,503 at the end of 2025, by the county's fund balance report in the Board's May 20, 2026 packet. The claims lists in the Board's 2026 packets show the relief fund paying out roughly $12,000 to $56,000 per list. MCL 35.21 says relief money not needed stays in the county treasury and must be considered when raising future sums. Property tax. The disabled veteran exemption is filed with the city or township assessor (see the Michigan entry), and the Treasurer's page sends veterans to this department for help with it. Where. 2155 Hogback Road, Ann Arbor; mail P.O. Box 8645, Ann Arbor, MI 48107. Open to the public Monday to Thursday, 8:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. with a noon lunch closure, walk-ins on a limited basis from 8:30 to 11:30 a.m. (call first) and appointments in the afternoon; closed Friday to Sunday. Phone 734-973-4540.