Abbi Kaszubowski

ALPENA – During its monthly board meeting the Alpena Township Board of Trustees decided to table a millage or special assessment that is being considered to help fund the fire department. Additionally, the trustees voted to table a possible blight millage until a decision is made on the fire department.

Alpena Township Supervisor Abbi Kaszubowski informed the board and those in attendance that the necessary information to make a decision on the special assessment has not been obtained yet.

“I have turned in the information I have to the attorney for this, and he is still reviewing everything,” Kaszubowski said. “I do not have anything new to report, but once I do, I will gladly report the information to the board.”

With the May 12 deadline looming to present language to the Alpena County Clerk to place any millages on the ballot in August, Kaszubowski provided an update on the information she is currently waiting for.

“The assessor is trying to figure out how to break the districts apart for a fair and equitable assessment on the properties,” Kaszubowski explained. “My hope is to be able to do the assessment to where it would not increase costs for residential residents as it relates to what they are currently paying because of the millage.”

Due to the approaching deadline the board has agreed a special meeting will be necessary in the near future. Trustee Norm Poli spoke about the lack of information thus far.

“Right now, there is nothing to debate, we have not gathered all of the necessary information to make a decision,” Poli said.

A special assessment is being considered in case a fire millage is voted down. The previous two tax requests for the fire department were unsuccessful.

“A special assessment for a fire department in Michigan is a dedicated charge levied by a local government (usually townships) on property owners within a designated area to fund fire protection services,” the Michigan Legislature states. “Authorized by PA 33, it allows funding for staff, equipment, and operations, often used to bypass tax limitations like the Headlee Amendment.”

Special assessments in Michigan generally do not require a vote of the residents to be enacted, though they are subject to public hearings. The decision is made by the township board or local governing body, which creates a special assessment district based on public input and project necessity.

According to information obtained from MichiganPropertyTax.com, a special assessment is not a tax. Rather, a special assessment is a specific levy designed to recover the costs of improvements that confer local and peculiar benefits upon property within a defined area.

If a special assessment process is to be used, the special assessment levy cannot be made unless it is preceded by a series of public notices and hearings which strictly comply with the authorizing statute including the acquisition of signatures to petitions.

Because of the uncertainty surrounding the direction the board will go pertaining to the fire department, any blight millage decision will likely be made at the same time. Currently the proposed blight millage numbers are .5 mills for two years, giving the voters the option to continue with the enforcement or vote it down after the term is completed.

When Township Attorney Tim Gulden was asked by Poli about the possibility of holding off a vote on the proposal until a decision is made about the fire department, he offered the following response:

“It is your option, if you did not adopt it today for the May election you would have more time if you would like to put it on the November ballot,” Gulden said.

At that point Township Clerk Michele Palevich proposed the idea of making any decisions on the blight millage until the special meeting pertaining to the fire department.

“If we are going to have a special meeting once we find out the information on the special assessment, we could have this on the agenda too,” Palevich said. “That way if we are not doing a fire millage, we could put the blight millage on August’s ballot prior to the May 12 deadline.”

Members of the board stated that some misconceptions have been going around about what the possible millage funds will be used for pertaining to blight enforcement. Kaszubowski cleared the air about what that money will be used for in a comment.

“There are residents that think their tax money will go to clean up the blight, that is not the case,” Kaszubowski said. “The millage money could be used for a blight enforcement officer and/or for covering attorney fees and court costs associated with taking those who do not clean up to court.”