A Community Standard To Determine What is Blight?

As a community, we are increasingly asking our local government, City, Township, or County to enact and enforce ordinances to eliminate blight or nuisances. Intelligent people approach the subject with trepidation. While we might agree upon the appearance of a blighted or diseased plant, it is not so easy to identify or define blighted private property.

Decades ago, before much of society accepted pornography and obscenity as a norm, the Supreme Court recognized the risk in legislating what constitutes obscenity, and necessarily limited the scope of the criteria. The first measure was “the average person, applying local community standards, looking at the work in its entirety, must find that it appeals to the prurient interest”.

Cheboygan County is by no measure a racially or ethnically diverse community, but it is a very economically diverse community. Bridge magazine in 2015 reported Northern Michigan has some of the worst income disparity in the country.  In Cheboygan County, the top 5% had a median income of $241,494 in 2015. The lowest 20% of income earners had a median income of $10,927. If the Cheboygan County income inequality seems outrageous, Emmet County with a median income for the top 5% of $374,282 and the bottom 20% median income of $13,656 ranked 2^nd in the state among Michigan’s 83 counties.     

The community standards of what looks nice, looks right, looks attractive to these economically diverse groups can vary widely. The owners of a modest home in the City of Cheboygan or a more rural location living within the statistical median family income of $38,000 might have one standard. Keep the grass cut, bring the garbage can back in, and do not turn the front yard into an automobile parking lot or worse, a wrecking yard. The ownership of a nice boat, travel trailer, snowmobiles or atv’s is a matter of pride and will invariably get parked in the front yard for all to see and perhaps envy.

People living in a more up-scale neighborhood or with a cottage on a lake, some of them in that top 5%, with a median $241,494 income, will have a very different standard. Manicured, fertilized, irrigated lawns, leaves raked as they fall, with professional landscaping and flowerbeds surrounding an always maintained and immaculate residence. I know many including myself enjoy that curbside appeal that results from pride of ownership and money freely spent. I cannot personally afford that standard. I know the majority of my neighbors by choice or economic necessity have some lower standard of aesthetics. 

How do we control, minimize, or eliminate private property blight with this huge disparity in incomes, expectations, and community standards? If I were protective of my investment in a $500,000 home, I would organize a formal or informal homeowner’s association to assure everyone in the neighborhood had similar expectations and a shared community standard. Pride of ownership must also compete with our Christian ideology condemning the worship of material goods. Never love anything that cannot love you back.

If you expected me to offer some simple solution to blight, I am sure you are disappointed. After listening to many people’s expectations of what they want a blight ordinance to accomplish, I am always disappointed. I watched the Mullett Township Board under the leadership of Supervisor Mary Anne Gale waste thousands of dollars in legal costs revising and revising again a blight ordinance that she eventually tossed. It started with the most onerous of enforcement action available under Michigan law, eminent domain. Make your house and property meet some community standard set by the top 5% or we will take it away from you. That is as ridiculous as telling a native Cheboyganite that our rusty, trusty, salt corroded winter beater needs to be patched, painted, and polished before it can be driven down your street.  

I do know some of the factors that contribute to blight. Eliminating risk factors, quitting smoking, is easier than curing the disease of lung cancer. We have low-income neighborhoods, old housing stock, many landlord owned units, high poverty rates, people on assistance, low-pay jobs, high seasonal unemployment, high drug use, and many elderly retirees on low fixed incomes. If we want to reduce blight, each of us within our personal means and abilities should be working to mitigate those risk factors.  

There is also public property blight. Our blighted infrastructure, neglected roads, sidewalks, lighting, and other things that new eyes identify as ugly can create a lasting and negative memory for visitors. That is another subject for another day.

An Open Letter to the Cheboygan County Commissioners

Dear Cheboygan County Administrator Jeffery Lawson and County Commissioners John Wallace, Rich Sangster, Cal Gouine, Mike Newman, Bob Bolinger, Karen Johnson, and Roberta Matelski;

I have addressed this to each of you because you should all know that the Cheboygan County voters and taxpayers are not as dumb as you think. Do not tell us one thing and then do another.

I sat through county meetings at Mackinaw City, two CCE-911 meetings, and additional meetings back in Cheboygan County. Mr Lawson and Commissioner Wallace stated repeatedly that we needed to fund an 800 MHZ radio upgrade for the CCE-911 dispatch service and our first responders. There was much discussion of telephone surcharges or an extra millage. Employing still fuzzy math the entire Board agreed to propose .5 mills additional taxes on every taxable parcel in Cheboygan County to raise an estimated $717,761 over four years. That total is $2,877,041 in additional taxes.

That exceeds the earlier estimated cost of $2.74 million dollars. I should repeat again that the county has a surplus of unassigned funds totaling $8.035 million dollars. The Cheboygan County Policy of 30% unassigned funds exceeds the State of Michigan recommendation of a 15% to 25% “rainy day” fund. The $8.035 million dollars as reported by the auditor is 69% of the annual budget and exceeds the County own fiscal policy by over 100%. Fiscal responsibility should mandate the County Commissioners stop borrowing, over-taxing us and instead spend the more than $4 million dollars, our tax dollars, they have stuffed into money-market accounts.

It does get worse. The .5 millage proposed wording as agreed upon by the unanimous agreement of the County Commissioners says nothing at all about an 800 MHZ infrastructure upgrade and new radios for Cheboygan County’s first responders.

It will instead be spent, as the proposal states, “for the purpose of financing facility, equipment, maintenance and operating cost of the Charlevoix, Cheboygan, and Emmet County 911 (CCE) public safety call answering and dispatch services”. It will pay for borrowing money, maintenance, and operating cost for the entire Charlevoix, Cheboygan, and Emmet County 911 (CCE) public safety call answering and dispatch services. That far exceeds the stated need to pay for upgrades to 800 MHZ radios.

Taxpayers deserve truth in advertising. This millage proposal is a bald-faced lie. The incumbent County Commissioners are complicit in the deceit; they should be voted out of office on the same ballot that bears their millage proposal. 

Let these people who have lied to us about the need for additional taxes know this nonsense must stop. Their emails are public. I encourage you to personally let them know that Cheboygan County does not need any more lies.   

Vote for your new County Commissioners and vote NO to new taxes.   

Thank you,

Carl Muscott

Indian River

Elect Carl Muscott as your Cheboygan County Commissioner for District Six. Please make a vote for our future on the August 7, 2018 Primary ballot.   

 

 

CHARLEVOIX, CHEBOYGAN, AND EMMET COUNTY 911 CONSOLIDATED DISPATCH SERVICES MILLAGE PROPOSAL

Shall the total property rate in Cheboygan County be increased by .5 of a mill (1/2 of a mill or 50 cents for each $1,000 of valuation) and levied for (4) years, beginning in the year 2019 and continuing through the year 2022, inclusive, for the purpose of financing facility, equipment, maintenance and operating cost of the Charlevoix, Cheboygan, and Emmet County 911 (CCE) public safety call answering and dispatch services? If approved and levied in its entirety, this millage raises an estimated $717,761, in the first calendar year after its approval.

Shall the proposal be adopted? ___ YES ____ No

July 5-2018 email to Cheboygan County Commissioners

Dear Commissioners,

I see again in the Cheboygan Tribune that the County of Cheboygan and specifically Administrator Jeffrey Lawson is planning to participate further in this ruse of alleged mediation meetings perpetrated by some members of the Inverness Township Board. I had previously requested the Board of Commissioners suspend Cheboygan County's involvement in the dispute until the Inverness recall situation was legally resolved.  

Last year Mr Lawson had publicly stated in a Board meeting he was "fully qualified" to mediate a meeting between the city and township. In response to a FOIA request seeking proof of his certification or training Mr Lawson stated in writing he had "no qualifications" as mediator. The series of secretive meetings attended by Mr Lawson have had only partial participation by the Inverness Board and the City of Cheboygan Council. To the best of my my knowledge, these secretive closed doors meetings were also attended by the legal counsels representing the two parties.

Administrator Jeffrey Lawson, publicly admitting he is not a qualified mediator, is at best a third wheel that opens Cheboygan County to the possibility of increased exposure to litigation. The Inverness Board and the City of Cheboygan Council are both represented by their respective legal counsel and those lawyers have professional  experience resolving agreements. Mediators do have some legal definition in Michigan and especially mediators acting pre-trial.  The Community Dispute Resolution  Act  260 of 1988 provides some protection from civil liability to a mediator trained and acting under that act. 

http://courts.mi.gov/administration/scao/officesprograms/odr/pages/mediation.aspx

This would all be quite a mess to sort out if Meijer still had any intention to build in Cheboygan County. Who gets sued for the deliberative delays that have created an unwritten moratorium blocking a Meijer store? Everyone and especially Mr Lawson posing as a "mediator". 

Carl Muscott

Excerpt from February 19, 2018 email to B of C.

Finally, after several years of inaction, Mr Lawson reversed his position and offered to mediate the negotiations between the parties. I heard, and the Tribune reported, "Both Cheboygan County Administrator Jeff Lawson and Community Development Director Steve Schnell are fully qualified to mediate a meeting between the city and the township." When I inquired, Lawson stated he had no certifications or training as a mediator and could not speak for Mr Schnell's qualifications. I see that as the head of the County's administration knowingly uttering a false statement. After almost four months of Mr Lawson's efforts conducted while he ignores his county responsibilities, neither party has sat down across from each other at a table.

Vote NO to the County Commissioners Planned Millage

Cheboygan County wants to needlessly raise your taxes again. Please take a moment to respond to their proposed ballot question with a NO on this survey link.

* Shall the total property rate in Cheboygan County be increased by .5 of a mill (1/2 of a mill or 50 cents for each $1,000 of valuation) and levied for 4 years, beginning in the year 2019 and continuing through the year 2022, inclusive, for the purpose of financing facility, equipment, maintenance and operating cost of the Charlevoix, Cheboygan, and Emmet County 911 (CCE) public safety call answering and dispatch services? If approved and levied in its entirety, this millage raises an estimated $717,761, in the first calendar year after its approval. 

Vote NO to tax increase

I have been a local government "Watchdog" for years and need a seat at the table to better represent taxpayers and move Cheboygan County toward a brighter future.

I am the Republican candidate for Distinct Six County Commissioner. If you reside in Tuscarora or Mentor Township, please vote for me on the August 7, 2018 Republican Primary Ballot. I need your support and please spread the word.

The incumbent has more than 20 years at the table with nothing of note accomplished. It is time for a change.

I am always ready to hear what you have to say. Please contact me with your concerns or questions.

Stay cool...

Is There Any Truth in Cheboygan County's Taxation?

You have seen some of the notices typically worded “Budget Hearing Notice”. The notice will end with some wording stating the purpose of the hearing is to make a determination of the millage needed to provide those essential services we cannot provide for ourselves. The typical Michigan property tax bills, sent summer and winter, have all of these taxing authorities, starting and ending their fiscal years with wild abandon. Some fiscal years run April through March, July through June, and some, like Cheboygan County actually start January 1 and run through December 31. Why then were there several large notices published in June by Cheboygan County notifying us of a Public Hearing on the Proposed 2018 Budget and Increasing Property Taxes? I guess the answer is “oops”.

The county budget is a big effort and after months of work and the cooperation of all county departments, County Administrator Jeff Lawson delivered a 300+ page proposed 2018 budget on November 28, 2017 to the Board of Commissioners. Mr Lawson scheduled the public hearing for December 12, 2017 and oops, someone forgot to notify us properly. Many of the laws that are supposed to regulate government and protect us from misfeasance or malfeasance have little or no penalty and a simple do over makes everything all right. Didn’t publish the proper notice of a Public Budget Hearing in December? Months later, perhaps after discovery by the independent auditor, Mr Lawson got another do-over in June.

Our County budgets annually for our state mandated and discretionary county services. Administrator Jeff Lawson and staff determine the millage required to fund those services. The proposed 2018 budget had forecast $15,745,453 total general fund expenditure. The proposed revenue was also $15,745,453. It is an amazing balancing trick budgeting to the dollar until one looks at the “other revenue“line, a $681,056 transfer from Fund Equity. Put simply, that means County Administrator Lawson limited by law to how many mills he can tax, dipped into the county’s reserve funds to cover a $681,056 shortfall. Spending more than comes in is not fiscally responsible and Mr Lawson has done it year after year. 

  

From the most recent documents that the State of Michigan requires the County to file, the   General Fund Reserves at the end of fiscal 2016 totaled $7,061,762. It is now less. The state likes an unrestricted fund balance of about 15% to 25% of annual expenditures. Cheboygan County’s policy was set at 30% and in 2016 was sitting at 63%. That resulted from years of over-taxing us. Instead of spending within the millage revenue, this big rainy day fund has allowed County Administrator Jeff Lawson to over-spend. He balanced the proposed 2016 budget by using $844,659. Lawson then balanced the proposed 2017 budget by using $822,112 of Fund Equity. With 2018 included, that is $2,347,627 of deficit spending proposed by Lawson in only three years. If these deficit spending budgets prove conservative, leaving a year-end surplus, then Mr Lawson and his finance staff inflated the need for funds and over-charged Cheboygan County taxpayers on the required millage.

There are several million dollars needed soon to upgrade the existing CCE-911 emergency services radio systems to 800 MHZ. We can debate the urgency or real need. We cannot argue that this board has allowed Mr Lawson to dip into rainy-day funds year after year for day-to-day county operations. Regardless of how hard Mr Lawson has hit the savings over the past few years balancing his budgets, there are still plenty dollars there to fund the 800 MHZ upgrade without the incumbent Board of Commissioners taxing us again. They do not need to seek a new millage or a 911 surcharge. There are millions of surplus unrestricted dollars in the general fund reserve.

Almost 20 years ago, I worked with a person who left a long career with the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. He cut corners, pre-filled regular reports, and practiced little cover-ups. He generally made me feel good he was no longer in the nuclear business. His favorite expression excusing some slip-shod effort, “good enough for government work”, was too scary in a nuclear context.  At one time, good enough for government work meant a higher standard. We need to hold those in control of Cheboygan County to that higher standard. 

Go To-Vote 4 Carl Muscott-District 6 

Cheboygan County's Attempt to Raise 911 Taxes

Cheboygan County Commissioners,

On Friday, May 25, 2018, an op-ed piece of mine was published in the Cheboygan Tribune. I endorsed the existing tri-county CCE 911 and closed the piece with a request to fund the 800 MHZ upgrades fairly."There is an estimate of a $10,283,167 cost. The three counties need to split that amount equitably and fairly, while recognizing this upgrade is a priority. You and I are the taxpayers served by these committed men and women who respond when we call 911. Cheboygan and the other counties will discuss the options available to fund these needed upgrades. Telephone surcharges on your monthly bills and pre-paid phones, or millages are two options. I trust our Cheboygan County Board will reach out to us. They need our input to get the needed question on the November ballot that we can answer with a “yes”."

As a Board, outside of a public meeting, or on a decision made solely by your Administrator Jeff Lawson, that plea for an open discussion has been ignored. 

On Sunday evening, May 28th, the Clerk Karen Brewster sent an email notice of a "Reconvened" County Board meeting scheduled to occur on May 31 at 9:30 AM. The only new business is "Truth in Taxation Resolution No. 18-07 to Establish Additional Millage Rate and Set Public Hearing". 

Please advise the method the Cheboygan County Board of Commissioners have used to determine the need, millage required, and who drafted a "Resolution" outside of the view and purview of the public. Was this "Resolution" created with a round-robin discussion, a closed door meeting, or is it another creation of Mr Lawson operating as a defacto County Controller, on his own prerogative, instead of County Administrator?  

The citizens of Cheboygan County who have some awareness of the CCE 911 situation and needed funding have questions on the fairness of the distribution of costs. At the County's annual planning meeting, there was some discussion of the issue and Cheboygan County seemed to think the consensus among the three counties would be a shared ballot question seeking a surcharge or millage. Charlevoix County exercised their independence and nixed that option.

The newly incorporated articles of incorporation, "CALM", have not yet been majority approved by Cheboygan County Board of Commissioners. The new document continues the same cost sharing. That 32.77%, 30.77%, and 36.46% split is based on a "formula requires that sixty percent of the Authority's expenditures be divided equally between the three participating counties. The remaining forty percent is divided based on telephone lines in each county. The agreement requires that this funding formula be reviewed every five years. The funding formula was last adjusted in 2005." (see below)

That 40% of the funding "based on telephone lines" in each county and last "adjusted" in 2005 cannot fairly represent current actual usage of 911 services. In 2005 about 90% of homes had landlines; now less than 50% of US homes have landlines. Many families and even individuals have multiple cellphones, smart devices, and other connected devices that also cannot be used as a measure of impact on 911 services.

I am sure CCE 911 can track and easily compile the geographic source of every 911 call that arrives at the call center. An annual record of calls received from each County, averaged over a rolling 5 year period, and updated annually would serve as a fairer and more equitable method to allocate that 40% of charges.     

I encourage the Cheboygan County Board of Commissioners to act more responsibly. The voters are watching.

Articles of Incorporation-(CALM) 5/17/2018

Each County shall have the responsibility to fund the Authority based on the following: Charlevoix County – 32.77%; Cheboygan County – 30.77%; and Emmet County – 36.46%, which allocation percentages are the same as existed at the time these Restated Articles of Incorporation were adopted by the Counties.

CCE 911 Contributions per County-Notes to December 31, 2016 Financial Statements

NOTE I - CONTRIBUTIONS FROM PARTICIPATING MUNICIPALITIES: Under the terms of the organizing agreement, each participating county is responsible for funding the developmental costs and operating expenditures of the Authority based on a formula. Currently the formula requires that sixty percent of the Authority's expenditures be divided equally between the three participating counties. The remaining forty percent is divided based on telephone lines in each county. The agreement requires that this funding formula be reviewed every five years. The funding formula was last adjusted in 2005. 

The Cheboygan Courthouse Doors-The Tip of an Iceberg

Most of a Michigan County’s essential services, many mandated by our Michigan Constitution, are provided by offices or departments headed by elected officials. The voters elect Judges, the County Prosecutor and Sherriff, and the Clerk and Treasurer. There may be decisions made that do not satisfy everyone, but for a group of elected officials chosen by popular vote, they all serve Cheboygan County with a surprising amount of competence. The Cheboygan County Road Commission, a Board with five elected individuals and their own budget and building, manages to rebuild old roads and maintain newer roads while plowing snow for much of the year. The CCRC Board relies on the capable efforts of a management, engineering, and accounting staff that gets the job done while dealing with a legacy of pension costs and all of the complexities of State and Federal rules, mandates, and grants. 

Our elected Board of County Commissioners oversees the County Administrator and provides the few County services not directly controlled by the previously mentioned people.  The Administrator working with the Finance Department holds the purse strings and ultimately controls the budgets for all of the Cheboygan County departments except the independent CCRC. The County Commissioners come and go subject to the whims of the voters every two years. County Administrator Jeff Lawson, much like a corporate CEO, must work for this ever-changing Board. Mr Lawson recently disclosed his current salary of $100,928 per year. That does not include his benefit package; healthcare, defined pension, vacation and personal time, vehicle use, life insurance, and other perks that assuredly exceeds the County employee benefit average of 53%.  Mr Lawson seems well compensated to facilitate the needed communication and coordination to manage the day-to-day operation of the rest of the County Building and keep the doors open.

Did I say doors? Every week, one of Mr Lawson’s failures is on display as taxpayers and other visitors to the Cheboygan County Building attempt to gain entry through a single ill-conceived security door. That was Mr Lawson’s idea.  Mr Lawson sold the design and implementation of a very expensive and often out-of-service security system to a too trusting Board. In 2002, just after 911 and while Mr Lawson was still Village Manager at Mackinac City, the State of Michigan had published Michigan Court Security Guidelines. “Weapons screening is an essential part of court security. All persons entering the court facility should be subject to security screening. A proper weapon screening station has: Adequate room for people to congregate inside, out of the weather, without being so crowded as to present additional security problems.” Mr Lawson ignored those guidelines and best practices. The Board had placed their trust in him. Mr Lawson promised again in March 2017 to correct the door issues: “Staff has been in communication with Diebold and the door manufacture to receive estimates on door modifications to place employee at the door during peak use times or modify the existing remote system to provide additional scanning capability”. More than a year later, that never happened.  Meanwhile, hundreds of people, county staff and employees, lawyers, and even elected township officials, apparently more trustworthy than a Cheboygan County citizen or taxpayer just swipe one of the hundreds of cards issued and walk through any other door. Until everyone is subject to the same security screening, the County building will only have a false sense of safety.

If the front doors, a still unresolved embarrassing failure are the tip of the iceberg, what issues are floating just below the surface out of sight to all but the most diligent observers?  

A failed Zoning Ordinance with 147 amendments and much needed changes stalled, business openings and investments delayed, failed enforcement of both zoning and building safety violations, with the Planning & Zoning and Building Safety Departments under-staffed and over-stressed. The list continues with a failed attempt to reconstitute the Cheboygan Economic Development Corporation, a failed Cheboygan Marina Fuel Tank project budget, and a twenty-year-old Solid Waste Management Plan that needs revisions before a half-full garbage truck becomes your new neighbor.

If Cheboygan County Administrator Jeff Lawson, like a CEO, answers only to the County Board of Commissioners, when do the shareholders get their say? The County Commissioners will allow you three minutes to comment to their often-deaf ears. Every even numbered year, the taxpayers can exercise their right to vote and support or oust the Commissioner that does or does not represent their District.