Could Manchester be Washtenaw County’s next city?
Manchester–village or city?
On Monday, June 18, Manchester Village Council convened for its regular meeting after announcing a “special public participation” would be held to discuss the topic of Broadband.
In its Summer newsletter, an announcement was posted, “The Village will hold a special public participation during its June 18th meeting to hear comments regarding Manchester Township’s plan to provide broadband connections to each Township resident. The plan would be funded by a millage assessed to the entire Township, including the Village. The Village Council would like to hear how Village residents feel about being assessed this tax.”
Village President Pat Vailliencourt opened this section of the meeting by reading a statement outlining the situation to date, describing the history of the efforts to bring broadband service to the rural areas of the township, which began with a presentation by the Michigan Broadband Cooperative to the Manchester Township board on February 14, 2017. On March 13, 2018 (13 months later), on the recommendation of a subcommittee, the township board authorized a feasibility study, which is now expected to be completed in early fall.
“In fairness, the Township study asks for other funding options (than a millage) and other technology options (outside of buried lines),” Vailliencourt said. “However, past searches for other options and funding for rural areas has not found another way. There are no grants identified; major service providers will not put in lines or towers for service at their own expense. You will hear that funding for this project has not been determined and that we need to wait and see what the study finds. We have been criticized for saying ‘would be funded by a millage,’ as that decision has not been confirmed. Our approach has been to go on the very data the Township used to proceed with this initiative, past history and logic and look at the most possible scenario, which is this becoming a millage.
“As your elected Village officials, we do not want to assume we know what our constituents want; we need your input,” she concluded.
About 10 community members (including some township residents) attended and participated in this special discussion. Most had questions, but all had negative opinions when it came to paying additional taxes for the township broadband, when it is already available from at least three sources within the village. Vailliencourt stated that adding another provider in the village may or may not have a positive impact on pricing.
An unexpected twist to the discussion came from the general enthusiasm among audience members for the Village of Manchester becoming a city. Most of the residents who commented appeared very much in favor of the idea of city-hood.
One of the options listed by Vailliencourt as she concluded her presentation was that Manchester village could become a city and no longer be part of the township. “Historically, we have had a very good relationship with the township,” she said. “What would be the impact of this process? (It would) take several, several months; a decision would have to be made very soon.”
According to Wikipedia, a village is a “clustered human settlement or community, often located in rural areas.” However, a “village” is more than just a quaint designation for a small community; it’s a legal entity. In 20 US states, including Michigan, the term “village” refers to a specific form of incorporated municipal government. The distinction is not necessarily based on relative size or population, but on the powers granted to the municipality and obligations to provide specific services to residents.
In Michigan, a village is always legally part of a township. A city is separate from every other municipal authority but its own. This is the issue that has become a sticking point in discussions of providing broadband services to the “township.” Manchester Township includes the Village of Manchester; as such, village residents are actually constituents of both entities. The township government provides residents the legally required duties imposed by the state–assessing and collecting taxes; conducting elections; and maintaining voter registration records. Some townships–including Manchester Township–also provide local services, such as fire protection.
But it is the Village of Manchester that provides specialized local services that the township does not. Some of those services include water and sewer, police protection, trash collection, planning and zoning, funding for local street and bridge maintenance, and parks that serve the entire community. This results in a proportionately higher burden to village taxpayers–16.4764 mills in total, while also paying township taxes of 2.0363 mills, making a total of 18.55127 mills paid by village residents.
Becoming a city would permanently remove the township tax assessment from the village taxes, but would also involve the village adding the legally-mandated services of elections, assessment, tax collection, and maintaining voter registrations, plus a new City government would need to negotiate with Manchester Township for payment of fire protection services, as do Bridgewater, Freedom, and Sharon Townships.
The process of becoming a city is time consuming. Both Chelsea and Dexter had a multiple-year evolution from village to city status. Jonesville, which became a city in 2014, experienced a nearly three-year process. The Village Council and administration were explicit that they are not advocating becoming a city at this time; it is but one option mentioned in an effort to resist the possibility of added taxes, the others being wait-and-see or simply voting “no” if the proposal is brought to a vote. But such a choice would come with many legal ramifications that still need to be explored.
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