The Dorr Townshp Board Thursday night voted to have a public truth in taxation hearing at 7 p.m. Thursday, July 29, on overriding the Headlee Amendment rollback millage rate.
Supervisor Jeff Miling said he received a communication that voters in Allegan County last November voted in favor of a proposal to restore the local millage rate of 1.07 mills, so he suggested Dorr Township should consider the same.
Dorr currently levies 0.7322 mill for local property tax, an amount that has been reduced from one mill ever since state-wide passage of the Headlee Amendment in November 1978. Headlee provisions insist government units roll back their millage rates in order to secure the same amount in local taxes plus inflation from the previous year.
Miling said Dorr Township has experienced massive residential and industrial growth over the past four decades, resulting in continuous reductions of millage rates every year. He said the township could use some extra money for public projects the people have indicated they want.
If approved at the truth in taxation hearing, the local tax rate could be as high as 1.0595 mills, or about 0.327 mill more than the current levy.
The pushback was immediate.
Trustee Chandler Stanton said, “I’m completely opposed. It’s just raising taxes. We just gave you guys (township officials) a raise. I see no reason to raise our citizens’ taxes.”
Trustee John Tuinstra then presented board colleagues with a 15-minute lecture about the evils of taxation and insisted Dorr is getting quite nicely now with what it has.
“With $120,000 coming in (from state revenue sharing) and $848,000 in the fund balance, that’s almost a million dollars (in the township’s coffers),” he said. “There is no group of people in this country that is criticized more than elected officials. We need to improve the public trust, not degrade it.”
Tuinstra said the intention of the Headlee Amendment was to “lower property taxes and put those (tax) decisions in the hands of the people.”
He added that though the proposal to increase the county’s property tax ceiling to 1.07 mills was approved, Dorr Township voters turned it down by a 55% to 45% margin.
He also noted the efforts by Township Treasurer Myrna Marr to secure almost $800,000 in American Rescue Funds and said, “I know you have to go through a lot of foolishness to get it, but we ought to be doing strategic planning, not impulsive spending.”
Trustee Pat Champion pointed out that the proposal from Miling was not to actually increase the tax rate, but instead to have a public hearing on the question.
The vote was 4-3 to have the hearing, with Miling, Marr, Champion and Dan Weber voting in the affirmative and Tuinstra, Stanton and Clerk Debbie Sewers voting no.
The icing on the cake came almost immediately afterward when Tuinstra moved to have notice of the meeting placed on the electric sign outside township hall. He outlined the wording he wanted, which Miling maintained was excessive and misleading.
Tuinstra agreed to have the wording reduced and his proposal was passed.
In other business Thursday night, the Township Board:
- Approved the reappointments of Larry Dolegowski and Dan Beute to three-year seats on the Planning Commission. Tuinstra voted against Dolegowski, citing, as he does so often, that he believes in term limits, yet at the end of his current trustee’s term he will have served for 12 years.
- Agreed to sign off on relinquishing an easement, as requested by Walter Bulkowski of Fusion Properties, in the Dorr Commerce Center between 142nd and 144th avenues.
- Approved returning to membership in the Michigan Townships Association at an annual cost of $5,636.95, mostly because Marr said she wanted to use the MTA’s services lobbying the State Legislature for American Rescue Act money and to be able to attend classes and webinars.
- Approved a permit for putting up a fiber optics communications tower from Surf Air.