Local government should run more efficiently with recent ordinance changes.
Following advice by attorneys, Independence Township Board simplified how it changes fees, charges, and rates.
‘What happens is these fines and fees become outdated, they don’t reflect the true cost of today and our code becomes quickly outdated,? said township Clerk Shelagh Vanderveen.
‘Rather than having to go back and go through this whole process of changing fees, the thought is to do it by resolution.?
Previously, the township adopted half of its codes by ordinance and the other by resolution. It can now change all fees, charges and rates by resolution.
The ordinance process is ‘very cumbersome,? Vanderveen said.
Ordinance must go through attorney review, first and second readings to the township board, publication, then insertion in township code book.
Changes in fees will still be brought before the township board for discussion and justification before approval, she said.
‘I don’t think the township board is going to do anything that can’t be justified,? she said.
Going through the ordinance process to change a $10 fine to $25 is not a good use of taxpayers? money, she said.
‘The board is very mindful of the public’s concern about being good stewards of the township’s resources. They don’t want to raise taxes, as witnessed with our last budget,? she said.
Bill Dinnan, Independence Township Building Department, said codification of the ordinance allows specific parts of it to be changed, without having to deal with the whole thing.
‘Let’s say you have an ordinance for parking and you want to amend how many spaces you need for a certain use because we find out it isn’t working,? Dinnan said.
‘You don’t have to open the parking ordinance to change the parking or allow it to be changed for every use; you can just deal with that section of it.?
Independence Township resident Neil Wallace, an attorney, said the change is reasonable and something that needs to be done periodically.
‘They are updating and making sense out of the structure of our ordinances and bringing them into conformity with state law,? he said.
‘What they had before was kind of a hodgepodge, where some fees were established by ordinance and some would be established by resolution. They’ve decided to have one process, and that process is, they will establish fee and charges by resolution.?
Wallace said if the township were to do something ‘outrageous? like quadruple a fee, residents would be able to intervene and reverse it.
‘I think they could do it either way. I don’t think either process would be so difficult. I acknowledge that the resolution method is easier,? he said.
‘These aren’t fees that they should be changing every year or month anyways. Some of these fees have been the same for decades. If there was significant reason to increase, they could do it by ordinance ? I don’t buy the flexibility is necessary, but understand it’s a convenience.?