Lockport Township Gives Approval for Countywide Designated Assessor

Members of the Lockport Township Board of Trustees approved St. Joseph County Equalization Director Josh Simmons to serve as the County’s new Designated Assessor at a regular meeting Monday evening. The other 15 townships in the county must also approve Simmons’s appointment to the position, which was required in a change to state laws two years ago. The position exists to take over a township’s property assessment duties in the event that the regular assessor has failed to perform in compliance with state requirements and the trustees do not step in to intervene.

Current Township Assessor Dale Hutson said a township would have to be “in pretty bad shape” before the Designated Assessor would take over. Previously, in the event of a consistent and long-term compliance failure, the state would appoint its own, third-party assessor to take over the local duties. It would then bill the township for all associated fees and management costs.

Under the new arrangement, a majority of each county’s townships must approve a Designated Assessor of their own choosing. The state would still activate that person should a township fail in its compliance duties, and the township would still be liable for their contracted fees, Hutson said. The Designated Assessor would be in place under state control for five years, after which the township could then hire its own, new, local assessor.

However, Hutson said there is a two-year process following the state’s first non-compliance communications before that happens. If it were to face noncompliance challenges, the township would have that much time to make corrections, either by having the local assessor bring their work and reporting into compliance with state rules, or by removing the local assessor and replacing them with someone else who will do the work. Hutson said he doubts the Lockport Township trustees would permit things to get to that point.

Farmer Granted Permission to Drop Acreage from Tax-Benefited Property

Michigan Public Act 116 (PA116), the Farmland and Open Space Preservation Act, permits certain tax benefits to landowners who agree to maintain their property as agricultural land for a certain period of time. A farmer in the township recently purchased a parcel that has benefitted from a PA116 designation in order to use it for expanded farming acreage.

The purchased parcel includes a farmhouse, which the purchaser does not need and does not wish to maintain or lease out. Instead, they would like to remove and sell off two acres of the property that includes the farmhouse. Under PA116, the state permits removal of structures that were in place prior to designation and signing of the agreement that permits the tax benefits.

The caveat is that any tax benefits received for the value of the removed acreage must be repaid to the state. At Monday’s meeting, trustees approved the removal of the two acres with the farmhouse from the property. That approval permits the necessary paperwork to move forward, according to Hutson, who said the procedure is fairly normal and happens on a fairly regular basis. If the removal is approved, the state will bill the liable property owner to recoup previous benefits and revise the existing PA116 agreement.

In other Lockport Township business:

• Township Clerk Tammy Babcock said voter turnout was high for last Tuesday’s General Election. There were 890 walk-in voters and 2,034 absentee ballots submitted, equating to 75 percent turnout among registered voters in the township. Babcock described some software and electronics issues encountered on Election Day and is working to identify solutions to those challenges.
• As part of an ongoing situation in which local jurisdictions learned this summer they will have to purchase their own pagers as part of a dispatch equipment upgrade that is otherwise covered by a recent millage proposal, Township Supervisor Mark Major said fire departments are learning exactly how much the pagers and other equipment will cost. To purchase two radios and 18 pagers, the Centreville Fire Board must spend $30,000, which Major said is being offset by a reduced maintenance budget. Major said the exclusion of the pagers from the total equipment expenditure by the county “is outrageous.”
• Township Treasurer Mike Friesner continues to explore the possibility of having Lockport Township partner with other jurisdictions on the installation of a sewer system. Such a project may be eligible for Federal grant funds, but grant officials previously told Friesner and other township officials it would make the project more attractive if it involved such a partnership. Friesner said Schoolcraft has been discussing a new sewer system of its own for years, but it may be facing new issues that could potentially lead to action. Park Township and Barton Lake are also potentially interested, Friesner said.
• Friesner’s office has a photocopier that is failing mechanically. Trustees approved an expenditure of up to $1,100 for a new one.

Dave Vago is a writer and columnist for Watershed Voice. A Philadelphia native with roots in Three Rivers, Vago is a planning consultant to history and community development organizations and is the former Executive Director of the Three Rivers DDA/Main Street program.