Vernon Township levies fire millage hike, sets $200 land-split fee

Splitting a parcel in Vernon Township now costs $200 plus $50 for each new split, with half the fee going to the assessor. The township board set the land-division fees at its Aug. 10 regular meeting, according to the meeting synopsis posted by the township this month.

On the same night, the board voted to levy the fire operations millage increase that township voters approved, and to renew the fire equipment millage. The synopsis says a separate fire operations renewal will not be levied. It does not give the millage rates, so the synopsis alone does not show what the change adds to a tax bill. A millage is a property tax charge of one dollar per $1,000 of taxable value.

The Fire Department reported 27 calls in July and thanked voters for approving the operating millage increase, the synopsis says. The board authorized the fire chief to apply for a $50,000 grant from the State of Michigan Treasury. All township tornado sirens have been repaired and tested. A proposed fire department chaplain position was held for further review.

The board also approved hiring an assessor's assistant at $20 an hour, capped at $5,000 a year, and approved the building report with a corrected total of 14 permits and $4,047 in fees. The clerk reported the primary election ran without major incidents.

Other items on the Aug. 10 list were reports and discussion rather than votes: ambulance facility needs, 204 sheriff incidents in the township during July, public safety revenue sharing, staffing assistance and water and sewer service at Lakeview Estates. The board approved all submitted bills and payroll. The meeting adjourned at 8:37 p.m.

The ambulance discussion carried into the fall. The Current reported that on Sept. 14 the board set a $142.47 per-household ambulance assessment, up from $125, after a public hearing at which residents questioned the rates and the wording of the notice and written protests were entered into the record.

As with the September synopsis, the August document records outcomes but no vote tallies, so it does not show how individual board members voted on the millage levy, the fee schedule or the grant application. It lists all board members as present.

What happens next: the synopsis does not state the date of the board's next regular meeting, and the township has not posted one in these documents. The board met on the second Monday in July, August and September. We have asked for the meeting schedule and the millage rates being levied, and will report both when they are provided.