ROGERS CITY — Rogers City officials will move forward with collecting property taxes for the city’s band after they determined the millage was legitimate.

City officials last month were concerned about the legality of the millage because they were not able to determine whether city residents had actually voted to authorize the tax after the city split from Rogers Township in 1945.

City Attorney Mike Vogler recommended last month that the city not levy the millage until officials could determine whether it was legal to do so. He also recommended the city receive a legal opinion from Miller Canfield, the law firm that acts as the city’s bond counsel.

However, on Tuesday, City Manager Joe Hefele informed city council members, that, after a lot of research, he was able to determine city residents voted to create a city band in 1945 and then agreed to levy a millage to fund the band in 1947. That millage allows the city to levy up to or 0.5 mills, or $25 a year for the owner of a $100,000 house.

However, in recent years, the city has levied 0.2 mills to fund the band, which costs the owner of a $100,000 house about $10 a year and generates about $12,000 annually for the band to operate.

Hefele recommended the city levy that amount again “and next year we’ll look at what that fund balance could be used for.”

The city band currently has $18,000 in its fund. Hefele said he would like to see if the funding can be used for improvements to the band shell at Lakeside Park.

“We need to have a better understanding of if that fund balance is necessary or not,” he said, adding that, in the future, the city council could choose to either reduce the millage or even choose not to levy it one year.

Hefele said he will talk with Vogler to determine how funding from the millage can be spent.

Because city staff were able to determine the legitimacy of the millage, and with input from Vogler, Hefele reported he was able to call off the expense for a legal opinion from Miller Canfield. The council had previously allocated up to $3,000 and for Hefele to sign a letter of engagement with the firm.

Crystal Nelson can be reached at cnelson@thealpenanews.com or 989-358-5687.