Sunday, September 4, 2011

An Important Change (Service Models page 2)

A letter was put out by the County Treasurer recently.

With Iron River Township's submittal of a large amount
of "delinquent taxes" for the recently imposed sewer
availability fee, it seems that the Bill and Gloria Vajk
lawsuit resulting in the county treasurer's recognition
that these charges will probably be challenged in the
courts as well, Iron County will no longer advance
monies that originate in what are now being called
"delinquent specials." This is the first time this writer
has seen the term used in this context and it clearly
demonstrates that the county treasurer, indeed Iron
County, recognizes the differences between the
various underlying mechanisms of "delinquent taxes."



Our lawsuit is still in the federal courts presently awaiting
the appointment of a judicial panel in the 6th Circuit Court
of Appeals. In our federal lawsuit we have claimed that
certain of the charges against a property we own in the
City of Iron River find no authority in state laws that is
required for a municipality to add a specific charge to the
tax rolls as delinquent.

While the excuses given by the county treasurer have some
validity, we believe that the underlying reasoning is the simple
fact that Iron County has finally recognized its responsibility
to citizens in these matters

Our federal lawsuit had two reasons for the complaints
being brought. The first was to force municipalities to
obey the law and to stop being so Unamerican in their
dealing with citizens.

The second was to stop the hemorrhaging of money on a
"something for nothing" basis to undeserving local
governments.

Needless to say, while the "sewer availability fee" has an
actual basis in state law, that law was nullified by the
Headlee Amendment to the Michigan Constitution as well
as a number of state and federal court cases that have held
that water and water related services constitute a contract
between a municipality and a citizen. The Iron River
Township billing is imposed from the top down with no
possibility of avoidance by a property owner.

I lay the blame for this entire series of governmental
intrusions into our pockets on poorly educated elected
officials.

Justice Thomas M. Cooley died in 1898. But before he did,
he wrote not only several crucial opinions in the Michigan
Supreme Court, but he also prepared a set of books on the
law that have been frequently referred to by the US
Supreme Court through to the modern day. All this
information is at the disposal of anyone willing to read it.
In fact a number of his books are available on the
internet for free.

The state statute authorizing the "sewer availability fee"
runs headfirst against issues previously decided by the
courts as illegal, to say nothing of more recent rulings.

If Michigan governments were doing things correctly, the
questions raised by Bill and Gloria Vajk in our lawsuit, and
the current issues occasioned by the "sewer availability
fee" should have been submitted by the Michigan Attorney
General, or the legislature, to the Michigan Supreme Court
for an advisory opinion.

That's what a government that cares about its citizens
should do.

In the end, this can be viewed as yet another "service
model" problem where government cares more about
its own little ticky tacky problems than it concerns itself
with the well being of its citizens.

Bill Vajk

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