Dexter restarts effort for cityhood, but new plan draws opposition over Gordon Hall
Historic Gordon Hall sits outside the Village of Dexter. Its property straddles the Scio and Webster Township line. A plan to include the Webster Township portion in the village's cityhood petition has upset the Dexter Historical Society.
File photo
Officials plan to send in a petition signed by at least 117 property owners, 5 percent of the total population of Dexter, and containing corrected legal descriptions requested by the State Boundary Commission.
“It’s a slow process,” said Shawn Keough, village president. “We just want to take the next step. Our goals are one step at a time. If we don’t resubmit until the fall, it is going to be next year before we’re before the State Boundary Commission again.” Dexter officials have been seeking cityhood since a city study committee formed in July of 2006.
Officials submitted their original petition to the state Nov. 6, 2009, and in March were initially turned down because of what the State Boundary Commission determined to be an insufficient legal description.
The commission said the description was vague and incomplete. The new description refers to boundaries as determined by recorded documents, while the previous one included references to road centerlines, railroad rights of way and high-water marks for creeks and rivers, among other things.
Also addressed in the new petition is the question of the village’s contiguity: In the previous petition, the map of the village consisted of three separate areas that did not touch and were described as the Scio Township portion, the Westridge Subdivision and the Cedars of Dexter. So Dexter officials added the 22-acre portion of the Gordon Hall property in Webster Township and part of the property occupied by the Mill Creek Sporting Goods Store. Not included in the new boundary are the 30 acres of Gordon Hall property in Scio Township.
Paul Bishop
"It's really distressing that they would take this route when they could take another route," he said. He said the boundary could have been drawn differently to solve the contiguity problem and not take in part of the Gordon Hall land.
Assistant Village Manager Courtney Nicholls said the new boundary was drawn to take in the least amount of property possible with the least tax impact on property owners. She noted that Gordon Hall's nonprofit status makes including that property tax-neutral.
Bishop said the society will write a letter to the Boundary Commission opposing the new proposal will speak out against it at the public hearing.
Nicholls said the signature collection effort has already begun. Once the petition is submitted, which Nicholls expects will be done by September, a lengthy process remains before the village can become a city.
The Boundary Commission must determine if it is acceptable. If it is, the commission will hold a public hearing in Dexter. If the commission then decides the effort should move forward, any citizen can obtain signatures on a petition to call for a referendum on whether the village should become a city. If no petition for a referendum is filed within 45 days, an election will be held to elect a City Charter Commission, which would then write the charter for the city. The charter would then be sent to the governor's office for approval. If approved, officials schedule a charter election. If voters approve the charter, the village becomes a city.
Nicholls said cityhood would save residents tax money.
“It eliminates a level of government,” she said. “Currently (residents) pay taxes to both the village and the township.”
According to the Village of Dexter website, the reduction in the taxes would be 1.5 mills for people in Scio Township and 3.5 mills for people in Webster Township.
John Hansen, who is a former Dexter schools superintendent, as well as former state legislator and interim city manager for Chelsea, said he believes cityhood is inevitable for Dexter. . “I believe it is the largest village that isn’t a city, and there are 30 to 40 cities that are smaller than Dexter. It is probably overdue,” he said. He added that a sign would not change how he feels about Dexter.
Carol Jones, village clerk, is also in favor of cityhood.
“(Dexter) already does a lot of the same things that a city does, and we’ve already met some of the qualifications such as population, providing city services, having a fire department,” she said. “We’re ready to take the next step.”
She added that just because Dexter becomes a city doesn’t mean it will lose its small-town atmosphere. “I don’t think we’ll ever lose that,” she said.
Alana West is a freelance reporter for Ann Arbor.com. To reach the news desk call 734-623-2530.
Comments
DexterProud
Thu, Aug 12, 2010 : 7:33 a.m.
This comment is aimed more at ScooterDog and the comments made by him/her rather than the original story and I apologize. Normally I do not pay attention to most comments but those bothered me regarding Dexter and it's workers or their personal assumption of lack of work. Anytime anyone is a public employee, it is a given that in a sense they work for everyone and thus everyone thinks they have a say. Village workers do ride around frequently throughout the day - as that is part of the job I believe! They are the ones who make the rounds to be sure our traffic lights our working, obstacles are not in the road, roads do not need to be cleared, that leaning village tree is not going to land on my house, etc. Some are meter readers who most likely are in an auto all day. This is called preventative maintenance! I would much rather they waste a gallon of gas than have a light out and one of our community children injured or killed. I appreciate that they probably have a break to stop and get a coffee like the rest of the world. I also appreciate the time they may take while waiting in line, and knowing they are being "watched" by some taxpayer, that they take the time to say hello and be friendly, answer a question I may have about something going on or something I need done on my street - those are what make Dexter special. As for the brush pile everyone in the neighboring area knew it was dropped off by someone who did not live at the residence - nor in the village. It was most likely by someone who was either too lazy or too cheap to take care of it properly on their own and thought they could sneak it in. Perhaps ScooterDog is right, we should have public workers doing jobs such as grinding branches for those who don't live in our village. That would be a much better use of tax dollars. Does ScooterDog not appreicate when those same workers are pulled away from home in the middle of the night (or Christmas morning!) to clear our wintery roads so they can get to work the next day? Sometimes "riding around" is part of the bigger picture. Please do not assume before you know. If you have a question, call. Don't write nonsense in a public forum. The village workers are no different than the friendly folks at our post office who take time to be personal with us while we wait for service, the police officer pumping gas who takes a minute of his time to answer a question I may have, the teacher I stop in the market asking about Open House, the worker at the hardware who is sincerely interested that I got rid of my ant problem, the woman at the grocery who knows me by name and asks about my children and so on. I also appreciate the elected official who is on their break and takes time to answer a question I may have. I would be so put off if especially public workers or officials did not give the attention and personal touch to us when we need it. It isn't just public workers - it is Dexter people (and Dexter workers of all types - public and private)and what makes it a great place to be. I guess it could be the private sector as well where it is ok to sit and play computer games during work, have a company logo on the side of the vehicle as a tax writeoff or so they can have a deduction for many non-business meals, one who joins every organization so they can just give viewpoints to fluff up their own self-importance. I'm kidding. The private sector has the same - the poor business man in a company car who stops at McDonald's in it after driving for 80 hours. Do I find that bothersome? No. Do I call that company to say I saw your car at McDonald's? No. Normal people worry about themselves. If ScooterDog is so worried about brush at someone's residence not their own, perhaps they should pitch in. Maybe the person in the home has fallen and can't get up! If ScooterDog is a village resident I am very disappointed. If that is all they have to do perhaps they should move to a different or larger Michigan town, maybe without all the friendliness, that has far more going on - long grass, icy roads, murders and so on so they can give their input to matters that truly need it. Village or City just keep the friendly atmosphere we so love intact. By the way I am on my personal break allocated to me by my supervisor. I did not have time to check grammar and spelling.
AlphaAlpha
Wed, Aug 11, 2010 : 8:44 p.m.
Thanks Mick. The suspicion that cityhood would likely lead to higher net taxation perhaps originates due to the almost uncanny tendency of tax burden to rise with time, occasional tax cuts notwithstanding. Additionally, as Dexter and Chelsea share so much, higher taxes in Dexter seem quite plausible. Why do you think otherwise? Thanks...
ToddAustin
Mon, Aug 9, 2010 : 11:47 a.m.
It's my understanding, from a comment made to me at the Scio Township offices, that taxes collected by Scio on properties within the boundaries of the Village of Dexter are overwhelmingly for the Dexter schools and are simply turned over to them. The 1.5 mil savings figure put forward would therefore be the overhead cost of having that extra set of hands doing billing and paper shuffling. Like others here, I would like to see more information offered to residents. Make the argument, answer the questions you receive in reply, and I'll be happy to consider supporting the initiative.
Mick52
Sun, Aug 8, 2010 : 8:33 p.m.
Comparing Ann Arbor to Dexter for tax purposes? Good grief.
Mick52
Sun, Aug 8, 2010 : 8:29 p.m.
Scooter if you are referring to my comment, do you really think Dexter and Ann Arbor can be used as comparisons? I suppose if Dexter expands to about ten times its area, goes on a spending spree and builds multiple buildings to house the homeless and low income, build a huge city hall and install a million dollar fountain on it, then yup, I guess both cities are comparable. I still have yet to see any proof (based on fact) that Dexter will have to raise taxes.
scooter dog
Sun, Aug 8, 2010 : 3:41 p.m.
I think you need to do your homework there folks who think taxes will be/remain/stay lower with a city as opposed to a village. Property taxes are almost double in a2 as opposed to living outside the city limits,same size house. Two familys I know. One pays $3400.00 per yr,One pays $1900.00,I guess dexter is going to be different,ha ha,dream on.
Mick52
Sun, Aug 8, 2010 : 3:02 p.m.
You are welcome Alpha. The comments following mine are assuming bad things will happen. For example: "A Dexter police dept?" There did that come from? Becoming a city doe not require a city police dept as far as I know. Pontiac was considering dropping its department in favor of the sheriff's dept: http://www.theoaklandpress.com/articles/2010/01/22/news/local_news/doc4b597af6e22d0898793049.txt I do not see that happening at all. Its my understanding that Dexter will stay in contract with the sheriff's dept. As with Fire protection, remain with the agreement in place. No I do not see that happening. If it were true, I would not go with city hood either. There is no doubt though that taxes will be lowered. I cannot express enough how important it is to contact the people working on this and ask your questions. Do not rely on posts like those here, mine or anyone else's. As you can see, no one has posted any proof of any reason expenses will raise, other than me when I noted the Village will have to cover election costs. Perhaps both Scio and Webster Twps perform some service now that the Village would have to pay for later. Other than elections I doubt there are any, I think the village handles all the services you need, within the borders. I see no solid reason why taxes would increase significantly if cityhood is approved. I would vote for the control.
julieswhimsies
Sun, Aug 8, 2010 : 1:19 p.m.
Thank you for for your comments regarding my question, Mick. I must agree with Alpha, however. "Scope creep" is an issue. While it is possible that taxes may be lower initially, after city hood, I believe that costs will rise eventually. What services in Dexter will need to expand? Will Dexter require a mayor whose salary is competitive? While many people in Dexter see no reason to deny cityhood, there are many of us who don't see the necessity to push the issue. The primary reason Chelsea pushed the issue was because the village wished to be able to control Main Street, which has serious traffic issues, and to avoid the possibility of a state highway running through downtown, disrupting the area and its businesses. This is not an issue in Dexter. Do we really wish to become the "City of the Village of Dexter"?
scooter dog
Sun, Aug 8, 2010 : 10:01 a.m.
Anybody who thinks that taxes are going to go down and stay below what they are paying now if and when Dexter becomes a city,must be living on another planet. Taxes will never ever stay below township taxes. Somebody has to pay for all of the wages for police,fire,elected officals,dpw,new city hall/fire station on and on Where do you think it all comes from,not obama/your pocket book If and when Dexter becomes a city the first thing they need to do is reel in the DPW departments absolute waste of taxpayers money. I have never seen a small city such as ours that has more guys rideing around in pick-ups with 2or 3 guys all day long. And how many brakes do they get in a day,I see there red trucks in mugg and bopps or the gas station across from the fire station all the time and when there in there the motors are running keeping, I assume the A/C cooling,WOW what a waste of my tax dollars.
AlphaAlpha
Sat, Aug 7, 2010 : 9:01 p.m.
Well Mick52, good post, but a few respectful comments and questions for a Public Administrator to be: 'Scope Creep' is quite common in government, right? Taxes may begin low, but then, usually, they rise, often quickly. A Dexter Police Department will likely be more expensive than the current contract with the county, then they'll 'need' a new building (like Chelsea) for police, for city business, etc, and then they'll need more staff, and then they'll need to increase pay and benefits to 'attract competent help', etc. etc. And, certainly, some of the above items have not yet been 'discussed'. But it's predictable that they soon will be upon attaining city status. What in the above scenario do you not see happening within just a few years if Dexter becomes a city? Notice, 'lower taxes' is not part of the scenario. Thanks
Mick52
Sat, Aug 7, 2010 : 7:46 p.m.
Julie its true you tax bill will go down. Right now you are paying Township taxes to either Scio Township or Webster Twp depending on where you live. Once Dexter becomes a city, you will no longer have to pay Twp taxes. I believe the only task the city will have to add is running elections. That should not be a large cost that would cause a rise in taxes. That is noted in the article. I heard about what happened in Chelsea but I do not know why. You should find out. I live in Dexter Twp, and am finishing up my MA in Public Admin. I studied the Dexter city hood issue and I see no reason to turn it down. Think about your taxes going to the Twp and consider if they are paying for anything in the village, in fact you should find out. Your twp taxes may be funding something you are not getting, such as snow/sidewalk plowing the township roads and not village roads, same for fire/police. You could be paying double for some services. The city will be able to write a charter, so if you are concerned about tax increases, perhaps charter language will help. Both Donna Dettling and Courtney Nicholls are doing a great job. Too bad about this glitch over the boundary and that it takes so long. I with the Mansion folks would reconsider.
julieswhimsies
Sat, Aug 7, 2010 : 3:12 p.m.
I am a Dexter resident. I have difficulty understanding the need for cityhood. The statement is often made that this action will lower taxes, but the specifics are unavailable. We were long-time citizens of Chelsea before and after Chelsea became "The City of the Village of Chelsea." Our taxes actually rose.
scooter dog
Sat, Aug 7, 2010 : 3:03 p.m.
So if they become a city will we finaly get them,the city to pick up that pile of brush half in/half out of 3 rd street between central/dover. Its been setting there going on 4 months,I think its high time it was cleaned up Or are they waiting for someone to have a accident and then sue them?