Vote NO on Bond Proposal

On Tuesday May 3, the Crestwood School District will be requesting a $35 million Bond proposal on the ballot. I certainly will not support it. First of all they have close to $6 million in their fund equity, This is supposed to be held for emergencies and funding until the next payment from the state. It is not the fact that it exists, it is the amount that I have trouble with.
While sitting on millions of dollars they are forgoing normal maintenance. I looked at the pictures on their website of some of things that they plan to use the money for and was disgusted that they had not made the repairs out of their general budget. Some of the repairs look bad but are very inexpensive to repair. Others look to be more serious do to neglect.
There are some costly repairs that need to be made but before they ask me for more money they need to trim down a few million from their fund equity.
I went to a meeting with the committee supporting the bond and some of them tried to place the blame on previous administrations.Those people have been gone for years. Some of the things they are requesting are wants not needs.
They act like they are totally unaware of unemployment, the economy, inflation which most government entities say does not exist, and taxes which take up an average 52% of our income if you include state and local taxes. People are still losing their homes and there are prediction the stock market is on the verge of a crash that will make 2008 look like child's play.
I will support a bond issue only when they face reality. 3.5 mills is to much. That is $3.50 for every $1,000 of taxable value.

I'm Voting NO on May 3.

Time to Prepare to Appeal Your Assessment

The Wayne County Taxpayers Association is about to start scheduling our  tri county seminars on “How to Appeal Your Assessment”. The housing market across the state has been tanking. Foreclosures are up for nonpayment of mortgages. They are also up for non payment of taxes. The rules allow foreclosure after two years of nonpayment of taxes. Many people have lost their lifetime investment due to job loss or wage cuts. This is a buyer’s market, if you can find someone to finance you.  Tax increases are expected to be requested at all levels of government.

Many people chose to ignore their right to appeal their SEV (State Equalized Value) because their taxes had been dropping along with their property value. That does not mean that you are properly assessed.  The passage of Proposal A in 1994 limited the taxable value increases to the rate of inflation or 5% which ever is less. Remember, the assessment cap is removed when the property changes ownership. New owners are stuck paying taxes based on the State Equalized Value.
Don’t forget, if you live in the City of Detroit, you must first appeal to the Board of Assessors before mid February to appeal to the Board of Review in March. Everyone else should call their city or township and inquire when their Board of Review will be meeting. It should be sometime in March. Make sure you do the work necessary to make a successful appeal. You should be able to get sales that have occurred in your area from a local real estate office or the city assessor. You should also be able to see the SEV of other houses in your area and the worksheet they keep on your home to insure accuracy of information.

Home values are starting to increase.  Millages will start to increase because of inflation that may soon get into double digits.  Headlee rollbacks will become a thing of the past and truth in taxation will be the nightmare of the future. How they intertwine will be handled in our seminars.

Please check our  website in the future for a list of the locations at which we will be presenting the seminars. For more information call 313-278-8383.  If you wish to sponsor or hold a seminar please contact us. We will be happy to present to your church group, public service group, large or small. We have a Power Point presentation and the equipment necessary to present the information. We are asking a dollar donation per person to cover the cost of the printed material. We think you will find our presentation worthwhile.

The DROP Shell Game

Which nut has your money?



Please pass this on to those you know in Dearborn Heights.

Dear Taxpayer:

As a resident of Dearborn Heights you may be aware that in 1965 the voters adopted PA 345 of 1937, which allows for a millage in order to pay for police and fire personnel retirement benefits. Over the years, generous contracts with the promise of exceptional retirement benefits have been negotiated for Dearborn Heights police and fire personnel and the taxpayers have shouldered the costs for those benefits based on the vote of residents in 1965.

IF YOU DON’T WANT YOUR PROPERTY TAXES TO INCREASE PLEASE READ BELOW AND TAKE ACTION!

Please pass this along to your neighbors.

Scott Hagerstrom
State Director-Michigan
Americans For Prosperity
www.michiganafp.com

Background:

Three years ago during contract negotiations the City agreed to what is known as a DROP program (deferred retirement option plan). This program encourages police and fire personnel who are nearing retirement age to take an early retirement, thus moving the liability for their benefits off the regular City personnel budget and to the taxpayers through the police and fire millage provisions in PA 345. Once the burden of these employees’ benefits are moved off the City of Dearborn Heights’ books, the city frequently rehires the same personnel back as contractors.

The intent of PA 345 was to continue to support our city’s heroes once they have retired. That’s not what is happening today. Today, the City of Dearborn Heights is playing a shell game with your hard-earned tax dollars to fund EXISTING police and fire personnel benefits so they can make room on the city’s books for other expenditures.
In other words, while everyone else is figuring out ways to make the hard decisions in their personal budgets during this painful recession, the clever politicians at the City of Dearborn are simply moving liabilities off their books at the expense of the taxpayers through a loophole and NOT asking the taxpayers if they’re willing to support this.

Add to that the fact that in a down economy the investments and interest payments to the PA 345 funds are low, meaning the taxpayers must put more in to fund the liabilities. The millage this year alone increased by $2.30 for every $1000 in taxable property value, and because the recently arbitrated contract extends the DROP programming that millage rate is certain to continue to increase.

What does all of this mean in the real world? Former City of Taylor Mayor Cameron Priebe estimated that the PA 345 provision in their city meant that each retiree currently costs the taxpayers of Taylor more than $4.5 million (they currently have around 100 police and fire retirees). In Taylor, residents paid 1.2 mills in 1979 to support the PA 345 provisions; today they pay 6 mills and that number is expected to increase substantially. What does that mean in dollars and cents? A single resident in the City of Taylor with property valued at $150,000 will pay $450 this year just to support the police and fire retiree benefit provision of PA 345.

We MUST reign the liability of this fund in NOW. We can continue to support the retirements of the men and women who risk their lives to protect us within the provisions of PA 345, but the City of Dearborn Heights MUST get their house in order and stop using loopholes to shift the liability of the non-retired police and fire workforce to a millage provision.

Tell Dearborn Heights Mayor Daniel Paletko that you will support a referendum to repeal PA 345 if the DROP program is allowed to continue.

You can contact the Mayor of Dearborn Heights, Daniel Paletko, and city council in the following ways:
E-mail: dpaletko@ci.dearborn-heights.mi.us

Regular mail: City of Dearborn Heights
6045 Fenton
Dearborn Heights, MI 48127-3294
Telephone: (313) 791-3490
Facsimile: (313) 791-3491
Kenneth R. Baron
Council Chair
(313) 565-0420
FAX (313) 565-9184
(313) 791-9924
Janet Badalow
Chair Pro-Tem
(313) 791-9923 mailto:dh4badelow@comcast.net
Elizabeth Agius
(313) 791-9922
Tom Berry
(313) 563-6100
(313) 791-9925
Marge Horvath
(313) 791-9927
Margaret Van Houten
(313) 791-9928
Roy Pilot
(313) 274-4205