What would becoming a city mean for Village of Manchester residents?

Tonight, at the Manchester Village Council meeting at 7 pm at Village Hall, Village Manager Jeff Wallace will report to council members the results of his initial research into the process of becoming a city after the council voted unanimously at the last meeting to begin investigating the topic. As an incorporated village, the Village of Manchester–while maintaining its own government–is part of and also under the governance of Manchester Township. The village makes up a little more than 6% of the township land area and 45% of the population. Becoming a city would mean separating from the township. 

Although they are still in the early stages of the investigation, there is a twenty-step process laid out by state law that the Village would have to follow. The very first step would be to set up a study committee of Manchester Village residents who would look at everything surrounding the issue, take in input, bring in Manchester Township and other cities who’ve gone through the process, generate the pros and cons, and report to the Village Council. If the Village Council decides to pursue becoming a city after this point, there are multiple bridges to cross–including financial, state approval, and Village voter approval. 

Financially, the biggest cost to the Village would be from a survey of the community to establish boundary lines. It is at this stage that annexation of additional land could come in but both Wallace and Village President Pat Vailliencourt are adamant that the Village would make no attempt at a “land grab” and the city boundary would more or less mirror the current Village limits. In other communities who’ve undergone this process, the survey has cost between $20,000 and $50,000. Jonesville, in Hillsdale County, has a similar population to Manchester Village and became a city in 2013. They did not attempt to expand their borders either, and their survey was on the low end of the cost range. 

While the State of Michigan does have to approve the the process, they would only be likely to reject it because of a bad survey or the Village not meeting requirements in some way. Approval of voters, on the other hand, will be necessary at multiple stages. In addition to public meetings and hearings, multiple petitions signed by registered voters living in the Village are required at various stages. There would also be multiple elections held of Village voters, including at the very end of the process, residents (who could include current village council members) running for seats on the city council. 

Is Manchester large enough to be a city? Absolutely. In meeting population requirements for becoming a city in Michigan, Wallace explained that it is population density that matters. Although the Village of Manchester had a population of 2,091 in 2010 according to the census, the Southeast Michigan Council of Governments estimated that in July of 2018 the Village’s population was 1,981. It happens that the division between fourth class cities and fifth class cities is at 2,000 residents. Most likely Manchester would become a fifth class city of which the requirements are a community of 750 to 2,000 residents with a density of 500 people per square mile. There are exceptions that allow smaller communities to become cities. In fact the smallest city in Michigan is Lake Angelus, 1 hour and 20 minutes away in Oakland County, with a population of 290 residents.

If the village becomes a city, village residents would probably not notice an impact on their day to day lives. All agreements in place between the village and other entities would continue, including the collaboration with Manchester Township on the 5-year plan and the Watkins Lake Trail. As a city, they would also work with Manchester Township to provide fire protection.

Although a more complete list would be generated by the study committee, some of the changes would include that elections and assessing would no longer be handled by the township, but instead would be handled by the new city government. Taxes for other units like the schools and library would be collected by the city instead of the township. There could be a change in the amount of taxes paid by current village residents, but that is also something that will have to be studied. The biggest change would be the simplification of governance over the residents who live in the village. Currently, village residents support and are governed by the village council and the township board and support two sets of treasurers and clerks.

The idea of becoming a city was initially brought to the surface because of the possibility of Manchester Township placing a broadband millage on the ballot. Vailliencourt stated, “Broadband opened our eyes. [Manchester Township] told us they wouldn’t do a millage, but it could happen in the future, with a different group of people.” The reason for investigating becoming a city is greater than the single issue, however. Wallace explained and Vailliencourt agreed, that residents living in the village and township have different needs and different expectations of services. Each municipality should be able to proceed without inhibiting the other. Each municipality should be able to do what is right for its residents.  

Vailliencourt stated that when you drive through Manchester, you don’t know whether we are a village or a city, we are just a community. People don’t think about boundary lines between townships or townships and the village. It’s all just Manchester. She explained that the community is based around our schools and groups.

“Whatever happens,” she said, “we’re still the Manchester community.”

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by Sara Swanson

Sara Swanson is an editor, writer and founder of the Manchester Mirror.