It has been one year since I presented “Questions of the DDA” asking why the DDA has been allowed to use our residential tax dollars, police millage and other public taxes to enrich the downtown business district since 1985.
Using straight line averaging, if the village portion of DDA tax capture last year was $450,000, then the amount of money taken from the village residents over the last 37 years (based on an average of $225,000 per year) would be approximately $8.32 million. Total tax dollars taken by the DDA from our community and other taxing jurisdictions is estimated at $16.64 million.
The Village of Lake Orion’s annual tax revenue is currently around $1.1 million, after the DDA tax capture.
The village council has not addressed, nor answered these questions. A lot of smoke has been thrown to cover the frivolous spending and the failings of previous village councils, managers and DDA boards.
The issue at hand is about the use of residential village tax dollars for non-village purposes.
I truly believe that it is contrary to law the our DDA exists today (since 1985) and captures 30-plus percent of our residential village tax revenues for proprietary use by the local businesses in a small section of the downtown. These businesses would continue to thrive without the DDA.
I am trying diligently to encourage the village council to get our tax dollars back for the village taxpayers.
I ask you, the tax-paying residents of the Village of Lake Orion, to speak up and let the village council know how your tax dollars should be spent.
Please speak up so your voice is heard.
Sincerely,
Michael Lamb
Councilman
Village of Lake Orion
LO Village Councilman wants residents to ‘speak up’ on how their tax dollars are spent added by mmkelley on
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As revealed at the March 13, 2023 Village Council meeting, when the voters approve a new millage, as was recently done for County transportation and in the past for OCC, parks, and other things to make the life of everyone a little better, the increased taxes of those in the Lake Orion DDA district go to the DDA, not where they were voted to go. The DDA then uses them in any way they want with a majority of the funds going to only the downtown business district.