By Jim Newell
Review Editor
LAKE ORION — A grassroots petition effort to put repealing the ordinance that funds the Lake Orion Downtown Development Authority before voters is moving forward and now goes to the county board of canvassers for review.
The Lake Orion Village Council voted 5-1 during its meeting on Monday to receive and file the petitions. Council Member Bradley Mathisen cast the lone nay vote, and Council Member Doug Hobbs was absent from the meeting.
It is unsure when an election would take place. The petitioners did not meet the county deadline of Aug. 16 to put the proposal on the Nov. 8 ballot, so it would have to go on a future regular election ballot.
With 2023 being an “off” year, if there are no elections in Orion Township, the proposal could be pushed until a 2024 election, village officials said.
Another option would be for the village council to call for a special election, which is unlikely because the village would then have to pay election costs.
“What I expect to come out of this, and it’s very difficult for the full community, is the transparency that we’ve been looking for – there was a lot of discussion on that tonight – and there’ll be a lot of information coming forward. And I certainly hope that there’s a point in time that it might (go) to a vote of the people. That’s where I think it lies,” council President Ken Van Portfliet said.
Last week The Review reported that Harry Stephen, petition drive leader, learned that the effort had not received enough valid signatures. Stephen then got more signatures and submitted those to the village.
By doing so, the village clerk then presented the petitions to the council on Monday.
“I really, from the bottom of my heart, wish we had not gotten to this situation,” Stephen said to the council. “I would have hoped that a resolution could have been negotiated out between the village council and the Downtown Development Authority to resolve the problems that we have.”
There was a joint committee meeting between DDA and village council members on Friday to discuss the issues. That committee was formed in June and did not meet until Aug. 19.
Council Member Michael Lamb and others in the community have been questioning the village council for months about doing something about the DDA collecting taxes on residential properties, taxes which should go into village coffers, proponents said.
“But this has been festering for months and my moves were out of frustration that things were not moving forward. And so, consequently, I did what our democracy tells us to do and that is to create a petition so that it can be brought to the public for them to resolve the situation,” Stephen said.
Village attorney Niccolas J. Grochowski of Beier Howlett told the council that, according to the village charter (sections 7.7 through 7.9) the council had two choices: accept the petitions and repeal the ordinance; or do nothing, in which case the petitions would be forwarded to the county elections for review.
“It’s up to the county to decide if it moves forward to a future election,” Grochowski said, adding, “The laws are confusing as can be” and that the council did not have the option not to send the petitions to the county.
Stephen said he did not favor a special election because there is cost associated with holding a special election.
“But if that’s what it takes to resolve the situation, so be it,” he said. “The DDA does fine work. I kind of look at it as a special interest area, which strictly involves the downtown primary area. But there are many areas within the DDA district that are not being serviced with the monies being captured.”
Lamb has been outspoken in his opposition to the DDA capturing taxes on residential property, and on the proposed new developments in the village.
He has stated he believes taxes on existing residential property and the new residential developments – like the Ehman Center rehabilitation and Moceri projects – should go to village coffers.
“I personally love the petition,” said Lamb, adding that he looks forward to a “properly funded” village in the future.
The petition seeks to repeal village Ordinance 36.05 and reads:
“Shall the Village of Lake Orion repeal Ordinance 36.05 and cease the capture of taxes from the Village of Lake Orion and other affected Taxing Authorities without terminating the Lake Orion Downtown Development Authority.”