With passage of City Charter, what comes next?

by Marsha Chartrand

Yes, in many ways it’s “just a name,” but there’s a lot involved in changing from the Village of Manchester to the City of Manchester.

And while, in the end, we’re still the same Manchester that we’ve always been, there are plenty of details to attend to along the way.

Following a successful vote for the passage of the City Charter on November 7, 2023, and the election of a Mayor and new City Council members, the City administration met first thing Wednesday morning, November 8, to come up with a game plan and move the organization forward with new tasks and new responsibilities.

“The meeting was productive and gave us a good understanding of the tasks we need to complete,” said Manager Michael Sessions.

The actual process of becoming the City of Manchester will begin next Tuesday once the election is certified, due to new changes in state law. On Wednesday afternoon, November 15, Sessions is scheduled to deliver the certified election results to the Secretary of State Office with two (2) copies of our City Charter. Newly elected officials will be sworn in on Monday, November 20, at the first regular meeting of the new City Council, beginning at 7pm.

The three responsibilities that a City has, which a Village does not, are handling elections, assessments, and tax collections. These are among the top priorities on which the staff worked for the remainder of last week.

Preparation for the 2024 primary and presidential elections has already begun, as Sessions and City Clerk Brittany Kuhnle started the process of setting up a precinct: ordering absentee ballot voter supplies, registration cards, and other related election items that’ll be needed. They’re also waiting on a quote for a voting tabulator and a voter-assist terminal.

Also, Sessions noted in a message to Council and Staff on Friday, “The Michigan Bureau of Elections has begun the process of segregating former Village voters in the Qualified Voter File (QVF) into a new precinct for the City of Manchester. We were told that this work is almost complete. (We can now) schedule necessary election certification training for both Brittany and KC (Clegg, assistant).”

Sessions added that a virtual meeting is scheduled with the County Clerk’s office on Wednesday to discuss becoming participants in the Early Voting Agreement with multiple Washtenaw County jurisdictions. “Early voting would take place in Chelsea for this side of the county,” he noted.

It has long been recognized that another of the responsibilities the City government will need to take on is assessing. Sessions and Kuhnle have been preparing for that in advance of the election, as well. So far, a new assessor — Chris Renius — has been hired, the City is in the process of licensing the software for the assessing program, and the County and State are partnering with us on switching tax identification numbers for each parcel.

When it comes to tax collection, “I have bad news,” Sessions said. “The Washtenaw County Treasurer’s Office does not want the new City to do tax collection for the Winter 2023 tax bill. They believe that due to the tax warrants, challenges of organization of parcels, and for tax settlement that Manchester Township will have to do the collection of the Winter 2023 tax bill. They also claim that this collection continued like this when the City of Chelsea and City of Dexter were established. I’m fine with letting Manchester Township do that collection, however, I am sad, as I hoped that the new City of Manchester could do this.”

DPW Superintendent Brent Jones is working on updating signage throughout the community to read “City of Manchester” in the next few weeks; those quotes will come before the City Council.

A new website domain, design and email addresses has been under way with the expertise of KC Clegg. A “Division of Assets” Committee, made up of City Council members, will be formed at the November 20 meeting to approach Manchester Township and begin the conversation on that particular topic.

There is still much to be done, of course, but all on board are ready to hit the ground running.

And there’s still no application for a fast-food chain to come into Manchester.

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by Marsha Chartrand

Marsha Johnson Chartrand, a founder, writer, and copy editor with the Manchester Mirror, is a 50-year resident of Manchester. She has a long history of volunteer and community involvement.