Beaver Island Michigan

Hi Bob, I realize there are those who claim the ACA helped people, but when the bulk of the nation was cut to part-time employment because of the ACA, self-included, I personally was left with a $330.00 a month premium with a $7,000.00 dollar deductible, which I could not do, leaving me with zero he...

Another two centsâ??transparency: Potential predetermined outcomes of township consolidation, or whether a domination of strong personalities or committees toward a predetermined end exists, it should be considered that, as in all levels of government, a potential lack of transparency necessarily results in the raising of red flags, because the worst kind of voter is an uninformed and/or misled voter.

Should this be a dichotomous vote, this is in fact a two-sided issue with both sides/arguments equally legitimate to ensure the process remains voter-centered. If the entire community was not afforded the opportunity to weigh in on whether they wanted township consolidation on a ballot, the community should not be facilitated, which is disrespectful; they should not be pressured, one side or the other, but only provided all requested facts upon which to draw personal conclusions. Consider the results of â??We have to pass the bill to find out what is in it [The Affordable Care Act/Obamacare].â?￾

Tania, As a new resident on the island (eight months), I can report that the people here are simply wonderful. The "drama" is not unique to BI as it occurs in all towns and cities, large and small, and even block by block as people, where ever they live, experience life differently and the...

Hi Tracey, In a search to educate myself regarding township consolidation, I am now learning about the concerns of islanders on the proposed consolidation and, yes, your concern is clearly a primary issue. The Charlevoix Courier indicates that the opportunity to consolidate is "historic"; ...

Beaver Island vote could go down in history
Residents to consider Peaine, St. James township merge

[by] Lonnie Allen (231) 547-6558 lallen@charlevoixcourier.com Jan 19, 2018


BEAVER ISLAND â?? Voters on Beaver Island will decide in May whether the islandâ??s two townships will consolidate into one.

The Charlevoix Board of Commissioners approved a resolution Wednesday to place the language to consolidate Peaine and St. James townships on the May 8 ballot.

The board of commissioners has the authority to order the election, said Beaver Island resident Pete Plastrik.

Plastrik is part of a team of individuals on the island that put the petition together for the consolidation.

â??I assume there will be a good debate in the community on what they want to do with this ballot question,â?￾ Plastrik said. â??The point of this ballot question was to not just have this be an academic debate, but a real question to the voters. The voters now have the power to change things if they want to or not. It is up to them.â?￾

Getting this language on the ballot â??was not an easy thing to do,â?￾ Plastrik said.

â??The state statute is quite old and hasnâ??t been used much,â?￾ Plastrik said. â??There were some difficulties in figuring this out, and I think we got there and we are all quite pleased with the result.â?￾

Historically, as it turns out, there was an effort in the late 1950s to petition Charlevoix County to consolidate the townships, according to county clerk documents.

â??I have seen some of the old petitions,â?￾ Plastrik said. â??Obviously, nothing happened and I donâ??t know why, but this topic has been around the island community forever.â?￾

If the residents on Beaver Island approve consolidation it would be a historic move in Northern Michigan, Plastrik said.

â??There has not been a lot of township consolidation in Michigan,â?￾ Plastrik said. â??It is a rare thing and it is an even a rarer thing to get it approved.

â??What you are seeing at least for the North Country is a fairly historic event going on and it is one of the reasons it took so long to figure out how to do this exactly because there werenâ??t any precedents.â?￾

Angel Welke of Island Airways is also part of the team to bring the question of consolidation to the voters.

â??It is a very small community to have two townships really duplicating a lot of services,â?￾ Welke said. â??There also is a tremendous amount of jointly owned entities between the two townships.â?￾

The islandâ??s airport and transfer station are jointly owned between Peaine and St. James townships along with the public marina and so on, Welke said.

â??They are all run by committees made up between the two townships.â?￾ Welke said. â??It has become over the years a very complex and can be complicated sometime to run to all these different facilities between the two townships. This is sort of streamlining the services and that is why I put my support behind consolidation.â?￾

The consolidation proposal would also involve consolidating the property tax levies which Peaine and St. James townships use to support various resources, with the proposed new set of millage rates to be presented to voters with the ballot question. The fire millage will be 1 mill, health center will be 2 mills, transfer station will be 1.8 mills, roads will be 1.4 mills, airport will be .85 mills, emergency medical services will be 3 mills, historical society will be .1 mill and township operations will be at 3.6 mills.

Welke said there is support for on the island for consolidation.

â??I think there is more public support for consolidation,â?￾ she said. â??Itâ??s been talked about for a very long time. So why not let the people vote, and if it passes the people have spoken and if it doesnâ??t they have spoken. We want the people on this island to make the decision with their vote.â?￾

https://www.petoskeynews.com/charlevoix ... 730e7.html

Many thanks to all for the welcome. I am not committed to one side of this issue or the other but still trying to learn as much as possible. Due to the population of the island, it does make sense that two separate governing bodies are unnecessary, but it also makes sense that "separation of po...

Being a new resident on the island and interested in the current township consolidation issue, I discovered the Michigan Townships Association web site (https://www.michigantownships.org/twpcritics.asp), which highlights both positive and negative aspects of township consolidations and also provides cited sources. A section the article titled "Townships in the 21st Century" states:

"Michigan citizens have a strong preference for local control, and to date the arguments that Michigan has too many governments has not gotten much traction. Some of the many arguments against a broad-brush policy to reduce the number of local governments include the following:

Michigan local governments, on average, provide services at less cost than local governments in all but a few other states (see the following Michigan Local Government Performance Measures)

A preponderance of academic research does not support local government consolidations as a cost-reduction strategy (see Bibliography)

Studies of prospective mergers and consolidations sometimes predict savings, but post-merger studies find that promised savings did not materialize, costs actually increased

No relationship has been found between the number of local governments and cost of local government services

Consolidations result in bigger governments with weaker financial stewardship than that of smaller entities

Economies of scale do not exist for most local government services

Bigger bureaucracies offset purported efficiencies

Transition costs exceed initial estimates

â??Homogenizationâ?￾ (leveling up) of service levels across larger geographic area raises overall service levels and costs

Volunteerism weak in larger entities

Employees of larger entities expect higher compensation levels

Governing bodies in larger entities require more staffing

Consolidated governments act as monopolies; reduce choice for service mix and taxation rates

Blending disparate millage rates creates winners and losers

Reducing the number of elected governing bodies and public officials â??rations democracyâ?￾ (See attached polling data)

Voters recognize their personal influence on elected officials diminished

Voters do not support the concept of consolidation, are generally even more opposed to losing their own local government

Requires extensive analysis and planning for three-five years

Proponents often focus on entities with small populations that already enjoy lower cost governments

Potential benefits result from unique circumstances

Entities geographically small, existing service area inefficient (law enforcement)

Existing water and/or sewer systems failing or undersized, benefit from reconfiguration and economies of scale if they can be merged

Existing services over staffed in relation to workload
Opportunity for merged services to be more efficiently redeployed (i.e., fire stations relocated"

Like myself, many may not actually understand the nuts and bolts of township consolidation, how it works, and potential consequences as well as potential benefits. As such, please make note of the sources posted at the bottom of the article. I hope this is helpful.
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