At the Oct. 18 meeting of the Van Buren Township Board of Trustees, VBT Treasurer Sharry Budd read the following statement:
“In response to the Belleville-Area Independent in the Oct. 13 paper ‘School Board audit turns up problem with VBT paperwork,’ I would like to state the history of the issue.
“The Township’s DDA issued a bond issue back in 1995, for the construction of the Township Hall. Based on the timing of this issue, the DDA was eligible to capture a proportionate share of the school operating taxes, along with the State Education Tax (SET) and RESA taxes, up to an amount equal to the annual bond debt payment. Annually, we report this to the State of MI via Michigan Department of Treasury form 2604 titled “Tax Increment Financing Plan report for Capture of Property Taxes.” The final payment of this bond issue was 10/1/14. So, tax year 2014 concluded the township’s ability to capture school operating, SET or RESA taxes. The State of MI was well aware of the conclusion of the bond. Our final 2604 report was sent to the State of MI on 3/3/15.
“The 2015 tax year marked the first year the Township no longer captured school taxes for the payment of the 1995 bond issue. So instead of withholding the school operating portion of the bond payment as we had for the last 20 years (roughly $352,000) we distributed the taxes collected to the school district without any withholdings as required.
“Mr. Thomas Taylor of Taylor and Morgan was quoted in the paper as saying, ‘some captured taxes were not reported properly to the State by Van Buren Township. The Township has to correct that and report it to the State. I talked to the gentleman at the township and he knows he has to report it.’
“His comments were totally off base, not accurate and offending. We reported all captures to the State of MI on an annual basis, as we were required to do. Upon conclusion of the bond issue, we are no longer required to file form 2604, which details the capture of school taxes, due to the fact that we are no longer capturing any school taxes.
“My deputy spoke with Mr. David Finks, from the State of Michigan, Department of Treasury (517-373-3227) on October 13. He confirmed the township is in compliance with all reporting requirements and future filings are not necessary as we are not capturing school taxes any longer.
“I would ask the school’s auditors to be sure of their facts before they make false accusations about my staff.
“I would hope this clears up the matter and if there are any further questions, you can call me at (734) 699-8902.”
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3 Comments
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Yes, because Mrs. Budd you and your crooked buddies have been so honest all these years.
Oh my, what will the poor DDA do now? They are probably drooling as they await the outcome for additional funds from Public Safety, RESA and Library bond ballots.
It is clear that the legislature needs to correct the law that allows them to capture any monies raised for a designated purpose by a vote of the people. Perhaps they could have a millage proposal to fund themselves. I was outraged by the ZOO funds. I had no idea that they had their fingers in all the pots. Time to start shaking a few legislative doors by all communities that have a DDA that takes advantage of this loop hole in government. They are like a possum who eats off of carcasses.