Comments on: County Board Moves Ahead on Land Bank

By: Vivienne Armentrout

Vivienne Armentrout — Mon, 12 Jul 2010 14:22:33 +0000

Conan Smith is confused when he says that there is no body within the County to review such issues as the Sylvan Township and Dexter Township projects. The Board of Public Works is still in place and it is that board that reviewed and approved these projects in the past. As a member of that board, I vigorously opposed the Sylvan Township project but it was supported by most BPW and BOC members. I considered it speculative and based on an unrealistic growth scenario. (Bond payments were to be made by developers of a large area west of Chelsea; the development, I believe, never materialized.) At the time we were told by the County Administrator that it would not be a problem because if the initial bond guarantors didn’t come through, “we can go after the township”.

The Dexter Township project was an early disaster. After the project was approved, the Dexter Township board of the time (this was prior to 1997, when I joined the BPW), under local political pressure, changed the assessment area so that there were not a sufficiently large number of assessments to pay for the work as scheduled. The County and Township have been playing catch-up ever since.

I hope that the BOC will not heed Mr. Smith’s suggestion of another board or body, but instead assure that the Board of Public Works serves as an effective oversight body.

By: Leah Gunn

Leah Gunn — Mon, 12 Jul 2010 11:15:05 +0000

I am not the least short-sighted on this matter. I take the long view. A land bank is not the answer to stabilizing neighborhoods. I refer you to the web address below concerning the much vaunted Genesee County Land Bank. It is having its funding cut by the Board of Commissioners, and the county is laying off 17 mowers because they can't afford the maintenance on the properties they own. There are over 5000 properties in the land bank, and very few have been sold, hence no taxes are being paid on them. The Land Bank has been referred to as a "slumlord". This is not I want for Washtenaw County. And, you will note that the funding comes from the same source suggested by our land bank resolution, the tax delinquent notes. I appreciated Cmsr. Schwartz' motion to remove this source of funding, because the county has just passed a budget cutting $30 million, and cannot afford to fund a land bank, and still deliver essential services. [link]

By: Steve Bean

Steve Bean — Mon, 12 Jul 2010 05:31:13 +0000

“Gunn again stated her concern that the funding source identified in the resolution would impact the county’s general fund.”

I encourage those commissioners who see the interest payments on tax foreclosed properties in the county as a revenue source, to reconsider. Your constituents may be the parents, children, employers, employees, customers, etc. of those who are losing their homes. The fee can’t come close to recouping the long-term costs to the county as a whole. Please don’t be short sighted on this matter.