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Posted on Sat, Apr 13, 2013 : 5:57 a.m.

Dexter residents taking sides about whether to become a city

By Lisa Carolin

With the Dexter referendum election less than a month away, the two opposing sides on whether Dexter should or should not continue with the process of becoming a city are becoming more solidified.

Voters will decide if the quest to become a city should continue at the May 7 election. A yes vote will move the process of becoming a city to the next step, and a no vote will end the cityhood process.

DowntownDexter_Mi.JPG

Residents are deciding May 7 whether the village of Dexter should keep pursuing cityhood.

Downtown Dexter MI

"The vote on May 7 does not decide whether the village becomes a city, rather it allows the process to continue so that the next two important steps of electing a charter commission and drafting a charter for residents to review can occur," said Village Council President Shawn Keough, who says that the process to become a city began seven years ago.

Some Dexter residents recently formed the Committee to Keep Dexter a Village, with reasons that include not wanting to lose the small town feel of the village and not wanting to lose representation in Scio and Webster townships.

That committee will meet for its second time at 10 a.m. Saturday (April 13) at Foggy Bottom Coffee House, 7065 Dexter Ann Arbor Road, in Dexter. Participants include former Village Council trustee Jim Smith.

"Throughout the process dictated by the state, the government of the village has made it well known that they are in favor of becoming a city," said Smith, co-chair of the Committee to Keep Dexter a Village. "Our group formed to let residents know there is more information to consider."

Smith says that five members of the Dexter Village Council along with a small group of residents attended the April 6 meeting of the committee.

"The committee is still in its development stage and working on our campaign materials," said Smith. "For now, we want people to know we exist and to take the time to see the pros and cons of the issue. Plus, we will provide an avenue for those that wish to join us in explaining the reasons not to become a city."

"I believe that the majority of our residents are interested in allowing the process to continue to the next steps where they will have an actual draft charter and set of facts to review and use as the basis for their future decision on cityhood," said Keough.

If the yes vote wins on May 7, the Boundary Commission orders that an election be held to elect a Charter Commission, a nine-member group who will write the governing document for the new city. That election could take place as soon as November 2013.

That document must then be approved by the Michigan Attorney General, after which voters in Dexter would vote on whether to accept the document. If Dexter voters approved the document, the village would officially become a city.

Keough says that most of the services that the residents and business of Dexter receive such as police and fire rescue, public water and sewer, garbage collection, and street and park maintenance, are provided by the village of Dexter.

"Scio and Webster Townships currently provide only two services - assessing services and administering the elections - to the village residents," said Keough. "Cityhood would remove an unnecessary layer of government and simplify many things for our residents."

He says that village taxpayers pay about $300,000 to the two townships for those services. As a city, Keough says those two services could be provided for about a quarter of the cost (less than $75,000.)

Other changes that would occur if Dexter becomes a city include that city residents will no longer be able to vote for township offices and ballot questions, and all personal property taxes will be collected by the city and then distributed appropriately to the schools, county, etc. For more information, go to http://www.dextermi.gov/cityhood.

A town hall meeting has been scheduled by the village of Dexter at noon Saturday, April 27 at the Dexter District Library for the purpose of discussing the May 7 referendum election.

Read the full ballot language on the county's website.

Lisa Carolin is a freelance reporter. Contact the AnnArbor.com news desk at news@annarbor.com.

Comments

Bob Zuruncol

Mon, Aug 19, 2013 : 8:18 p.m.

Lisa, can you update us with the names and/or credentials of the people who will be considered for the Dexter Charter Commission, a nine-member group in an upcoming election?

Shawn Letwin

Mon, Apr 15, 2013 : 11:30 a.m.

Saving $$ or not, one commenter came closer to what could be really driving this decision for cityhood by some officials in the Village of Dexter..." the City has more control over its own land, unlike Villages." Under the current structure, the Village government needs to cooperate with Webster Township and Scio Township (maybe Dexter). Guess if you can't share and play nice in the sand box, you try to change who is in control. Reminds me of redisticting. Yep, hit the nail right on the head I believe one commenter did. Well said. We don't like to have to play with you and work with you, so we are separating ourselves and creating new boundaries in geography and on paper. On a separate note, how much will it cost to convert the Village of Dexter to a City for the some of the following soft and hard costs... 1-changing/ filing of all of the legal documents with other government agencies? 2-changing/converting all of the business contact information/contract/agreements, etc. with suppliers and customers? 3-creating new signage? 4-discarding all literature, letterhead, business cards with Village references? 5-creating new literature, letterhead, business cards with City references? 6-repainting all village vehicles/equipment? 7-updating all web materials? 8-Many of the businesses and organizations will need to make changes in various business related documents, websites, etc. to reflect that change. Many of these things can be done with existing resources, but they will take time (and cost money for the labor) and take away from the regular tasks of the day. Interesting to note that the Dexter Chamber of Commerce has not taken a public stance on this issue in either supporting or not supporting it. More government is not necessarily better for business, let alone for the citizen.

jcj

Sun, Apr 14, 2013 : 4:18 p.m.

I don't have a dog in this fight. But when is the last time you heard any city say they could save money doing it them selves and the actually saved money?

Michael

Sun, Apr 14, 2013 : 2:54 p.m.

Villages in Michigan do not make any sense. Why in the world would you WANT to pay taxes to both the Village and the Township? The only forms of government that make sense are cities and townships. So many people are confused in Michigan about how Villages even work. To me, that is not very efficient to have Village government doing the same work as the Township, and forcing residents to pay taxes to both. I come from the Thumb, and Caro a couple years ago voted to become a City. Now, everyone is extremely happy with the outcome, even people who originally were opposed to the change. Now City of Caro residents only pay taxes to one entity and the City has more control over its own land, unlike Villages.

Susan

Sun, Apr 14, 2013 : 2:19 a.m.

Dexter should be a city. The paying and collecting of taxes to 2 separate entities is a major pain in the rear!

huh7891

Sun, Apr 14, 2013 : 10:21 p.m.

Either way..taxes will be paid..same amt or more.

Shawn Letwin

Sat, Apr 13, 2013 : 10:33 p.m.

the statement about proposed boundaries was meant to be about values of commercial and industrial properties, not proposed boundaries...enjoy, take care and be well.

Shawn Letwin

Sat, Apr 13, 2013 : 8:59 p.m.

I just checked out the link to the Washtenaw County data and 1-it does not break down any values for the proposed City of Dexter. So how can one say that the proposed boundaries of the City of Dexter exceed Chelsea, Milan and Ypsilanti? The data does state that the City of Chelsea has over 55 million of commercial property and the City of Ypsilanti has over 78 million of commercial property. What is the value for the proposed City of Dexter? In addition, Chelsea has over 13 million in Industrial property, Milan has over 1 million in industrial property and Ypsilanti has over 10 million in industrial property. What is the value for the proposed City of Dexter? Good luck getting beyond the rhetoric and misinformation as the focus becomes one of negativity towards the commenters' and not providing valid, robust and easily reviewable information/data. Attack the person and inject your slant on the intent of a person commenting. The Dexter Difference. More examples in the responses to my post of where one can not just disagree, but needs to be disagreeable. Your choice. Enjoy, take care and be well.

Kevin McNulty

Sat, Apr 13, 2013 : 6:17 p.m.

I have yet to hear (read) any good reason for Dexter to not become a city. Taxes paid to the townships will end and unless the village is getting its money worth for those taxes, which I doubt, why not keep it or pay it to your local govt? Any increases in taxes etc, is not so much in becoming a city but who you elect on your council, which is the most common problem nation wide when things go ugly.

Zach Jerger

Sat, Apr 13, 2013 : 5:11 p.m.

Just do it already and stop living in the past

That's a Fact Jack

Sat, Apr 13, 2013 : 5:05 p.m.

I'd like to respond to Mr. Letwin's post. He says that Dexter is a small government trying to become a big government. The fact of the matter is that if they become a city, no new staff positions will be needed, only a contracted assessor. (Source: City Study Committee Final Report, www.dextermi.gov .) As for saving money, that is also addressed in the City Study Committee's final report. He says we are drowning in legacy costs, and I agree that is true for too many governments. However, the Village has taken steps to manage and control legacy costs, including eliminating pensions and retiree health care for new hires and requiring existing employees to pay more. (Source: Citizens Guide to Local Government Finance; Fiscal Year 2012/2013 Budget [personnel section], www.dextermi.gov .) He says that if Dexter becomes a city, they would be a city with the fewest street lights and the smallest business tax base. I have no idea about the street lights, but Dexter has a bigger commercial tax base than Milan, and a bigger industrial tax base than Chelsea, Milan, Saline and Ypsilanti. (Source: Washtenaw County Equalization, 2012 SEV Summary, www.ewashtenaw.org) so I think it's safe to say that their being the city with the smallest tax base would be an exaggeration. Please, people of Dexter, take your time and do your research. I already knew about the City Study Committee's report, having read it previously. They have a link to the Cityhood stuff on their home page. To respond to Mr. Letwin's comments here, I looked further into the Village's website for personnel information (this was harder to find) and did a simple Google search on "Washtenaw County commercial property values" to discover where Dexter ranks in-county for their business tax base. This is an important issue. There are pros and cons – just like there is with every decision. We all need to go beyond rhetoric and misinformation, and become informed voters.

Shawn Letwin

Sat, Apr 13, 2013 : 3:13 p.m.

Let's see. We have a small government body saying that we need to be a bigger government body and we will save you money. Yea right! When has that happened? Governments across this nation have gotten so big and financially cumbersome. Our governments were created to serve us. But now we are drowning the private sector with legacy costs (pensions and other costs) just as it did to the Big Three and public sector unions are doing. Just another example of the tail wagging the dog. The Village just voted to spend an additional $1000 at the last meeting to ensure that "factual" information was sent out to counter the efforts of the citizens who did not support those in their government wanting to make Dexter government bigger. So governments tell the truth and the citizens don't? Wow! Paul Cousins stated that since they have already spent over $60,000 to date, it made sense to spend another $1000 to protect the investment in this endeavor. As reported in the Dexter Leader…"Cousins said that not sending out the mailer would amount to the village "putting (its) head in the sand" and that $1,000 to mail out information is necessary to respect the $63,000 that the village already has spent." Reminds me of how the school district stated that the duplicate IB program was at the bequest of the students and parents, when in fact it was due to a few high school teachers pushing it. As quoted from the Dexter HS IB web page…"Interest in the International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme started as a grass roots movement among high school teachers discussing ways to improve college and career readiness of DHS students." If city hood does come about, I would suggest that Dexter submit for application with the Guinness Book of World Records as the city with the fewest stoplights and smallest business tax base. Good grief!

Ivor Ivorsen

Sat, Apr 13, 2013 : 6:16 p.m.

Good Grief is right! Have few axes to grind Mr. Letwin? The article is about Dexter becoming a city, not the IB program at the high school. Maybe you should run for the school board.

Comment

Sat, Apr 13, 2013 : 2:33 p.m.

Don't.

walker101

Sat, Apr 13, 2013 : 12:18 p.m.

Don't let them do it, just look at A2.

Joslyn at the U

Sat, Apr 13, 2013 : 11:28 a.m.

Well that did it. So much for moving back to dexter :(