A Michigan Court of Appeals panel is promising a quick opinion on a lawsuit fighting a special assessment to pay for repairing several mid-Michigan dams.
The special assessment, which would be levied on top of normal property taxes, is intended to help pay for rebuilding the Edenville and Sanford dams and restoring several lakes.
The dams failed after heavy rains in 2020 and the resulting flood inundated communities downstream in Midland and Gladwin counties. The dam failures also drained the lakes that had become central to several communities.
The ongoing litigation has become a major hurdle in repairing the dams.
The special assessment on some 8,000 properties is intended to raise roughly $200 million. The assessments vary depending partly on a property's access to the lakefront.
Attorney Michael Homier represents the Heron Cove Association of property owners suing to overturn the assessment.
“A lot of our clients cannot afford these assessments. That’s the real problem,” he told the court.
Homier told the three-judge panel Wednesday that the assessment was incorrectly structured. He claims the assessment should have been based on the potential value of restoring the lakes to the property owners. Instead, Homier said, the assessment was created to raise a specific amount of money.
The attorney representing the counties and the group created to manage the dams and lakes defended the methodology used to assess the properties.
Attorney Zach Larsen represents Midland and Gladwin counties, as well as the Four Lakes Task Force, which is overseeing the restoration project. He also criticized the lawsuit challenging the special assessment.
“This special assessment appeal from a minority of property owners in the Four Lakes Special Assessment District threatens to undermine the common goal of both appellants and the counties, which is to restore the four lakes after the tragic 2020 Edenville Dam failure,” Larsen told the panel.
Homier accused the groups behind of the special assessment of “villainizing” his clients for taking the issue to court.
Tens of millions of dollars have already been spent on repairing and restoring the Edenville, Sanford, Smallwood, and Secord dams. But the funding from government and private sources made available to begin the restoration work is dwindling. The work is now largely on hold, until the courts decide on the legality of the special assessment.
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