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Committee acts on intergovernmental surcharge agreement

ALPENA — The Alpena CountyBoard of Commissioners Finance Committee voted to recommend the board accept an intergovernmental agreement for the $20 surcharge for countywide recycling. Residents who file for poverty or disabled veteran exemptions will not be required to pay the surcharge.

Commissioner Brad McRoberts said the agreement is usually done every two years, but it has become difficult to get approval of all of the municipalities because of meeting schedules. He said the new agreement will run indefinitely, or until one of the townships or the City of Alpena opts out. Then, he said, a new agreement will need to be done.

“This will just make it a lot easier,” McRoberts said. “Now only the county will need to vote to renew the surcharge.”

Perhaps the biggest change to the agreement is that it will allow people who have poverty and veteran exemptions to not pay the $20 a year. Treasurer Kim Ludlow said there currently are about 50 property owners who are tax exempt, who have liens on their property because they didn’t pay the surcharge. She said the past due balances increase by 12 percent a year and if there is more than one year of non-payment of the surcharge the balances can add up quite quickly. Ludlow said the county can’t foreclose on a property that has an unpaid surcharge, but the lien will need to be paid off if it is sold or transferred to someone else.

“Until Dec. 1 they aren’t exempt from the surcharge and they will need to pay the balance or the lein will remain on the property,” Ludlow said. “I have looked to see if there is anything the county can do to ease the burden, but I have no legal recourse to excuse it.”

The new agreement will begin on Dec. 1.

In other business:

∫ the committee voted to recommend accepting a grant for up to $12,758,161 from the Federal Aviation Administration for construction of the new terminal. The federal agency hasn’t formally announced the grant, but the county is getting approvals done in advance in an attempt to get construction started before winter.

∫ the committee recommended hiring RS&H for $1,160,000 to oversee the terminal construction project. A majority of the money comes from the FAA grant and the county will have a $58,000 match.

∫ the board of commissioners meets Tuesday at 1 p.m. in the Howard Male Conference Room in the county’s annex building.

Steve Schulwitz can be reached via email at sschulwitz@thealpenanews.com or by phone at 358-5689. Follow Steve on Twitter ss_alpenanews.

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