Citizens for Public Accountability and Responsible Development (CPARD)

On 12/18 the Township will attempt to hold a Public Hearing to decide whether or not we should allow REIS to use tax dollars to cleanup their property. The truth is though, the outcome of this hearing is ALREADY DETERMINED.

Are you unhappy that $6mln.-$8mln. in School Operating taxes will be used to clean land that the developer bought at a steep discount because it needed to be cleaned?

Unhappy that Public Safety, Parks and Rec., Shared services, RESA, etc. money will be used to clean the land the developer bought as-is knowing it had to be cleaned?

After a nifty presentation extolling the wonderful virtues of the Brownfield you can tell the Board why you oppose it… they will probably smile and nod and look interested. They might thank you and say some words to make you feel like they care then…

They will say that under the consent agreement they MUST pass the Tax-giveaway (A.K.A. Brownfield) and they will pass it 7-0.

This is not a hearing. It is a rubberstamp derived from a bad deal. They are using this bad deal to circumvent our rights as given to us by the State of Michigan to participate and affect the vote on this matter.

It doesn’t stop there though…

Don’t want wild zoning variances allowing six story buildings? Sorry… consent agreement.

Want to keep some of those 400 year old trees? Sorry… consent agreement.

Don’t want 1,000,000 sq. ft. mall/Wal-mart combo? So, so sorry… consent agreement.

And the beat goes on. The agreement allowed the Board to circumvent all of the rights of the citizens given by the state.

It allows them to circumvent the original Brownfiled committee that UNANIMOUSLY denied the Tax giveaway.

It allows them to circumvent virtually any Zoning Ordinances, Woodlands Ordinances, Traffic Mitigation…

It gave them 100% FULL CONTROL… then they gave it to REIS…

From the Northville Record this week.  We were unaware this would be published and it seems to infer that we want them to vote “yes” again on the consent agreement.  This is not the case.  I was explaining that they COULD vote yes again but the can and should vote no, that was left out.

I have placed comments at the end of the article for clarification.  Please see:

Northville citizens group CPARD wants township meeting on REIS agreement rescheduled

At the last regular meeting of the Township Board of Trustees 12/18 was selected for the public hearing regarding the $17mln. tax funded Brownfield award for REIS.

While we feel it is important for all to attend this meeting to voice their concerns over the decades it could and probably will take to pay this off, we also feel it is fair to let you know that unless the Township acts regarding our suit we will be seeking an injunction/restraining order to stop this vote until our case is resolved.

More to follow.

The Township Board holds its regular meeting on Thursday 11/20 at 7:30PM.

The Board will be setting a date for the public hearing regarding the Brownfield Authority for REIS.

There is nothing else on the agenda at this time regarding our suit, however, if you have the time you may want to drop in and support the residents of Edenderry as many are trying to fight a special assessment district.

http://www.hometownlife.com/article/20081024/NEWS12/81022038/1029

“On Tuesday, Michigan Tax Tribunal Judge Kimbal R. Smith III entered a State Equalized Value of $10 million on the former Northville Regional Psychiatric Hospital property in Northville Township into the consent judgment previously decided in federal court.

This makes the taxable value on the property $5 million.”

Breaking this down to the best of our abilities since the Twp. has not done so…

When a Brownfield Plan is granted the ONLY tax revenue that cannot be captured by the township during the payback period of the “loan” is the BASE property tax that was or is in effect prior to the Plan. Per the N’ville Record, Northville Twp. is getting about $98,000/year of REIS’s total tax bill of $760,000/year and that was based on $30+ million SEV. Now it goes down to $10 million SEV, so I assume the twp. cut will drop to about $32,000/ year. This is ALL the twp. will get each year during the Brownfield phase and right now. So if they capture 100% of the new tax revenue, when building starts,for payments and it is amortized over 20 years like they say,( it could get paid off sooner, but I doubt less than 10 years) for the next 10-20 years all the township will get for providing services like police and fire to the ENTIRE 400 acres is $32,000/year! I read years ago that the Meijer store alone, cost to twp. was about $60,000 a year in police calls, fire, EMS, etc. But the twp. keeps saying they will get millions in water and sewer fees. So if REIS decides all they are going to do right now is place a Walmart on the property and nothing else, the Walmart tax revenue starts going into the Brownfield fund ( estimate $ 170,000/ yr. same as Home Depot) and the twp. provides full services to the store for $32,000/ year.

The Walmart will start generating some revenue for REIS, but it will COST the taxpayers to have the store there. Also, if REIS does, say $2 million in clean up to get started, we do not have to pay them their $2mlm, until enough is in the “Fund” but if we do not then we have to pay interest on it until the Brownfield fund has enough in it to pay them or we sell bonds to cover it. That is where the 2% over prime comes into the settlement. THIS IS THE DANGER OF APPROVING A BROWNFIELD PLAN PRIOR TO ANY DETAILS BEING SUBMITTED BY REIS. If they removed all the buildings tomorrow, $17 million worth, we would start owing them interest, that would be $1.035 million/yr. at 6%. with $32,000 in revenue coming in! We do not have to pay it , but as the agreement states, it is still accruing. Will someone please read page 4 and tell me if I am wrong or nuts.

So… CONSIDER THIS….

If the Brownfield is based upon the tax revenue in effect when the plan was approved, and the taxes were not reset until this tax tribunal, that explains the “mystifying reason” that REIS wanted to postpone the brownfield discussion. If they had gone ahead and had the final approval last week, then it would have been based on the $30MM SEV, instead of the new $10MM SEV…

What’s mayor thinking? - “It would seem if Mayor Johnson has decided to jump in and help row on this issue he would pick a boat that would benefit his city.”

A good read on the impact to Downtown Northville if the Highwood Project Proceeds and why many believe Johnson should not be involved.

Residents Still Angry About Consent Judgment - A Look at Last Weeks Board Meeting

A full response to various fallacies presented in this article is forthcoming but overall it is pretty good.

Wow. The Twp. filed a response to our complaint and guess who their counsel is? None other than Northville City Mayor Chris Johnson.

We have a lot of commentary on this concerning decision by the Twp. and by Chris himself. I wonder how the business owners in the City will react to this development?

Check back for more…

What’s mayor thinking? - “It would seem if Mayor Johnson has decided to jump in and help row on this issue he would pick a boat that would benefit his city.”

House was full last night and the crowd was not happy. Some quick notes…

The Township Attorney would not directly answer the question: “How much was the Twp. insured for if we lost the “$100,000,000 lawsuit?” I am beginning to think that even if this ridiculous number was awarded we were almost 100% insured (minus the deductible) but they will not provide a direct answer. Someone on the board spit out the number $125K… I believe she was indicating that was the DEDUCTIBLE but again… No straight answer. The clerk brought up several other developments in which the Twp. was sued and guess what? NONE included a monetary award if I heard her correctly.

A board member implied that they had to settle with this trash agreement five days before the annexation vote because polling numbers showed the annexation would succeed. Who’s polling numbers did he reference? REIS polling numbers! Are they that foolish or naive to believe anything REIS would tell them while they are mired in litigation with them? The polling numbers out of Livonia showed a CLEAR defeat of the annexation three weeks out but they settled with only 5 days to go. All polling numbers we are aware of from Northville groups and Livonia groups showed CLEARLY that the annexation WOULD FAIL well in advance of the signing of the agreement… but they are going to claim the REIS numbers forced them into settlement.

The Supervisor again implied that the settlement is what won the annexation battle… but he contradicted himself. He said that they thought that if they settled Kirksey and team would back off. But Kirksey and team did not which would imply this strategy FAILED and that the settlement did not have any significant impact on the vote count.

I have to check the tapes but I recall the Twp. Attorney claiming that the assessed value of ZERO for the buildings and other upgrades on the land is legit. How can this be true when you have four residences on the site and they use the roads, water, fire suppression (probably), etc? Obviously if some of these upgrades are in use they have value and should not be assessed at ZERO. He also never gave a direct answer to the simple question… Are the buildings condemned?

A board member AGAIN implied that the 100 acre gift was a huge win while leaving out that 40 acres is wetlands and essentially not able to be developed, the other 60 is surrounded by an active gun range and oil well. They also left out that in the agreement it is the LAST to get cleaned up. This means it might not be available for use for up to TEN YEARS.

We got no direct answers on the tax rollback awarded to the developer. Just that the tax tribunal would decide. As we understand the tax tribunal would NOT be deciding on the roll back and retroactive refunds for 06, 07 and 08 if Northville had not agreed to it.

The attorney implied that the buildings and all other improvements on the property currently have negative value. Call local assessors offices and ask how many properties in their communities have negative values.

A question I did not get to ask:

Why was the developer that had to demolish the “Sheldon Center” to build able to do so WITHOUT a $17mln. Brownfield?

That’s all for now. Steve

Mall’s Demise Could Doom Community

Sharp jump in store vacancies and a frozen credit market could force closures, resulting in loss of vital revenue and jobs.

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) — With thousands of stores closing in the economic downturn, the increase in empty space at the nation’s shopping malls is leaving a hole in the hearts of once-vibrant communities.

In some cases, one-quarter or more of shopping centers are now empty, and the decline - or even the demise - of a mall can have a devastating economic and social impact…

Read the rest here…

http://money.cnn.com/2008/10/16/news/economy/mall_economy/index.htm?postversion=2008101616

We just received the agenda for the 10/16 Board of Trustees meeting and noticed a subtle yet significant change that I feel must be pointed out. The agenda now says: “Brief Public Comments” instead of “Brief Public Comments & Questions”

It looks like the board does not want any more questions. This is particularly disturbing given that they will attempt to approve the $17mln. Brownfield on 10/16. Maybe they want to play “Jeopardy!”? We give the answers and they respond with the questions?  While the notion is amusing, the reality is not.

Please join us on 10/14 at the Highland Lakes Club House… we promise that you can ask questions.