Advantages of becoming a Home Rule Village: 1. Form a government for our community for which our community would be the main focus, not a small part of the focus. 2. Growth and development is occurring now and will continue to occur, and our community should be prepared for it as one. 3. Bring $230,000 to $250,000 of State revenue sharing to our community to pay for services. These revenue sharing funds would be new funding for our community and would only come with only a small reduction in revenue sharing to our local townships ($18,000 total between the 3 other than Martin which would have no reduction). Gaining over $230,000 and loosing less than $18,000 equates to a net addition to our community of more than $212,000. Without a new village, these funds would be distributed to other areas of the State. 4. Bring $310,000 in road funding to the community, where only $110,000 currently is received for the same roads by the 2 counties. Better roads, more paved roads, etc. (The State provides funding to Villages, Cities and Counties for road construction and maintenance but townships are not paid for roads at all.) If the Village is not created, the additional $200,000 for road expenses would be distributed to other Villages, Cities, or Counties our local townships would not get any of this potential funding. 5. Coordinated land use planning and zoning for the entire Village community as one. (current land uses must by law be "grand-fathered" so they could continue unchanged) 6. Protective ordinances for the entire community plus the will and means to enforce them uniformly and consistently. 7. A village government provides a mechanism to facilitate adding services if they are needed due to growth, such as police patrols, marine patrols, enhanced fire protection, enhanced medical emergency services, parks, new roads, etc. As the people desire these services and vote for them, the village could provide them. If the people do not want them, they don’t get them, nor pay for them! 8. All Village revenue sharing, road, and tax funds will be used for the betterment of the entire village community and only the village community. 9. What is most critical in municipal planning for a community is to be able to plan for its own future. The smaller the unit to be planned, the more accurately the planning will reflect the community’s desires and promote the community’s wishes (think about how a neighborhood plan and a statewide plan would reflect your wishes very differently). Zoning of large areas such as townships and counties is very unsympathetic to any specific community such as ours, because the county and townships are bound to look at a much bigger picture. 10. The Village government and Township governments could work together to lessen the financial burden on each other by sharing expertise and expenses for common services. 11. Since the township revenues will not be negatively affected (and will undoubtedly increase) and the village will bring $230,000 to $250,000 in revenue sharing dollars, and about $200,000 of additional road funding to the community, we feel it is obviously better to create the village. Those numbers do not include any new taxes, which (if any) would be established by the charter. Remember, you will vote on the tax limit of the village at the same time that you vote on the Charter and there can"t be a village without a favorable vote on the charter. 12. Our Village would still be within the original townships. Township services and facilities would still be available to village residents, and residents will continue to vote on township issues and township board members. The Village doesn't change | Fire | Police | Sewer | Tax assessing | Parks | Cemetery services | Township voting rights. 13. The Village as a governmental unit will be able to apply for numerous grants. These would be in addition to any grants the townships apply for, and may very well overlap and bring extra funding to the community i.e. grants for fire fighting equipment could be applied for by the Village and Townships and then used in the existing fire stations. 14. The 4 affected townships would save money by not having to manage the area within their township which also is within the village, yet their tax base would remain the same and increase over time just as it would without a village. Townships currently use some of their general funds to pay for some road maintenance within the proposed village. Those expenses would no longer be incurred thus saving the township funds for use elsewhere in their township. |
ADVANTAGES OF BECOMING A HOME RULE VILLAGE
Village incorporation is a privilege afforded only to communities that meet the State's many requirements. Our community easily meets those requirements. Our community has earned the right for considerable State financial support and the right to self determination. This community can be the "Village of Gun Lake". |
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