"You should receive shortly, from my office, a copy of the letter and
information sent to the Attorney General's office concerning these
issues."
The issues being, of course, the City of Iron River ordinances
regarding the "readiness to serve" charge for water service which is
shut off at the curbstop and the noxious weeds ordinance as that
relates to mowing of grass within the "corporate limits" of the City
of Iron River.
By dealing with these issues through Ms. Powell Weston and the
Attorney General I am hopeful of avoiding a massive class action
lawsuit against many, if not most, of the Upper Peninsula
municipalities that have similar, or identical, ordinances. If
resolution is not achieved through this approach, only lawsuit
remains. Most of the municipalities in Michigan's UP cannot afford to
defend themselves in court at this time.
I have sent Ms. Powell Weston the following mail:
William J. Vajk
US2 Highway
Iron River MI 49935
12 August 2008
Melissa Powell Weston
Iron County Prosecutor
2 South 6th Street
Crystal Falls MI 49920
Dear Ms. Powell Weston:
I am in receipt of your letter to me dated 29 July 2008. I have, as
best as I am able as a layman (not a lawyer) continued to research the
Iron River ordinances as they relate to Michigan constitutional law
and existing court verdicts.
I respectfully direct your attention to Bolt. v. City of Lansing,
Michigan Supreme Court Docket No. 108511, Decided December 28, 1998
which was a case brought based on the Headlee Amendment to the
Michigan Constitution.
The Bolt decision is clearly on mark with respect to the Attorney
General Opinion I am seeking. I find it interesting that in Bolt the
Michigan Supreme Court referred to the National Cable Television v.
United States case I brought to your attention in my earlier letter to
you.
Obligatory reference for what follows: (Lawrence W. Reed is president
of the Mackinac Center for Public Policy in Midland and, as a member
of the Headlee Amendment Blue Ribbon Commission, he helped write the
portion of the commission's report dealing with the user fee vs. tax
issue. More information on tax policy is available at
www.mackinac.org. Permission to reprint in whole or in part is hereby
granted, provided the author and his affiliation are cited.)
"Just what exactly distinguishes a user fee from a tax? The Court
advanced three main criteria: 1) a user fee is designed to defray the
costs of a regulatory activity (or government service), while a tax is
designed to raise general revenue; 2) a true user fee must be
proportionate to the necessary costs of the service, whereas a tax may
not be; and 3) a user fee is voluntary whereas a tax is not."
Please see http://www.mackinac.org/archives/1999/v1999-13.pdf for a
complete article by Mr. Reed on this subject. His article concludes
with the following:
"The message is clear to Michigan municipalities: You now have no
legitimate excuses for mislabeling taxes as "user fees." Be honest. If
it's a tax, put it before the voters as the Headlee Amendment
requires, and make your best case. You can't ignore the Constitution
just because you need the money."
I hope these references help, but I remain available for further
clarification as needed.
Sincerely,
The above is the activism of Bill Vajk. This, and other ongoing
projects designed to improve life in Iron County may be found at
2 comments:
I testified before the Blue Ribbon Committee on the Headlee Amendment. The document produced was very well done.Unfortunately, both Democrat and Republican alike have skirted around its findings. Governor Engler included.
I know some of the people involved in its creation, along with Headlee, and these people know the intent of the amendment and it is frequently ignored by our courts.
Bolt v City of Lansing was a major breakthrough for the taxpayers but it seems if you want to have it apply, you have to go back to court.
The Headlee Amendment has to hold the record for the most court challenges. If government wants the money, they say take me to court. This from people who swear to uphold the Constitution of the United States and the State of Michigan.
Rose Bogaert, Chair
Wayne County Taxpayers Association
Thank you for your comments. I am presently trying to avoid resorting to the courts with this but if push comes to shove I'll do it, mostly because no one else has and it needs to be done. I've paid the City of Iron River far too much by way of illegal taxes already.
Bill Vajk
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