Your taxes and water bills are going up. I told you so.
Here are key points from the Lake Orion village manager’s proposal to the village council on April 10, 2023. (Agenda Packet page 167)
“WHEREAS, the Village of Lake Orion is facing millions of dollars of public improvement needs, including but not limited to streets, sidewalks, parking lots, storm drainage management, retaining walls or seawalls, driveway approaches; and
“WHEREAS, the Village does not possess adequate resources to address the millions of dollars in necessary improvements and must rely on other funding methods; and
“WHEREAS, the Village charter authorizes the village to specially assess properties for public improvements under certain conditions and in accordance with certain processes…”
The public improvement needs the village manager is talking about are:
Road Repair: 2023 Pavement Surface Evaluation Study (PASER). The village engineer recommends that we need to repair 86.7 percent of all the roads within the next five years: 144 of the 166 road segments in the village. (Agenda Packet pages 109-110)
Sanitary Sewer: A loan from the State of Michigan, or the sale of bonds, for $6-$7 million to rebuild the sanitary sewer stations on the islands. Water and sewer bonds are often paid for from water and sewer bill increases.
Water Main: Plans for phase 3 and phase 4 of the water main replacement estimate the cost at $6 million.
I believe the village manager’s claim that we do not have adequate resources is inaccurate.
The current Lake Orion Downtown Development Authority Tax Capture, if redistributed to village government, can immediately fund $5 million in bonds, and future taxes from new developments on M-24 can fund an additional $5-$9 million in bonds over the next five years.
Speak up, take action, tell your village to put your tax money where it belongs.
Data is available at www.councilmanlamb.com.
Michael Lamb
Councilman
Village of Lake Orion