The special assessments implemented by the Four Lakes Task Force to fund repairs to the Secord, Smallville, Sanford and Edenville dams will roll out on residents' tax bills in Midland and Gladwin counties starting Monday.
Officials say the repairs will restore the affected lakes to their legally mandated water levels, and include safety and flood prevention features all four dams originally lacked.
In 2020, the aging and undermaintained dams were overpowered by heavy rain. The resulting floods devastated areas across Midland and Gladwin counties. The flood damaged or destroyed 2,500 homes and businesses, resulting in $175 million in damages.
To raise the funds to fix the dams, the Four Lakes Task Force proposed to implement two special assessments onto property owners' tax bills. Midland and Gladwin county leadership agreed to the assessments despite residents' objections.
The proposal was met with swift backlash from residents, who attempted to fight the assessments in court. Despite their dissent, the Michigan Supreme Court found the action by the counties was legal.
According to Michigan Public, Michael Callan said the assessments are taking a toll on property owners like him, who are still financially burdened by flood recovery efforts.
"It’s getting harder financially. We’ve held out…trying not to file bankruptcy and you know, ruin my business and ruin everything,” said Callan in May 2025. “We weren’t at fault for this.”
The assessments will continue to appear on tax bills for approximately 40 years.
David Kepler, president of the Four Lakes Task Force, said the cost to residents has already been reduced by state and federal funding.
According to a recent press release, the task force obtained $9.8 million in state funding. U.S. Rep. John Moolenaar, R-Caledonia, also secured a $2.5 million federal grant that would also offset the financial burden on affected property owners.
"With the state and federal funding that had already come in, the assessment was going to be about $217,700,000," said Kepler. "Right now, we're about $20 to $30 million below the project costs as we've estimated it. We still have contingency, and so there's still time to go, but we are ahead of cost schedule."
Kepler estimates that the new funds will help reduce the average assessment costs by 10%-15%.
Kepler also gave insight into each dam's construction timeline
- Smallwood Dam - estimated completion: summer 2026
- Secord Dam - estimated completion: fall 2026
- Sanford Dam - estimated completion: around Jan. 2026
- Edenville Dam - estimated completion: around Sept. 2027
For property owners, the fight is not over.
Michigan Public reported in May 2025 that 2,000 flood victims are suing the state of Michigan, who, they say, was responsible for monitoring the maintenance of the dams after the company that owned the dams went bankrupt.
Earlier in the year, a Michigan Court of Appeals denied the state's request to dismiss the case without a trial.
Attorney Ven Johnson is working on behalf of the victims. He said in an earlier statement that the state was intentionally delaying litigation similar to that of the Flint water crisis.
A spokesperson of the Michigan Attorney General's Office replied to the statement in May 2025.
"Despite the claims of plaintiffs’ attorney Johnson today, the litigation still pending in the Court of Claims is nothing like the Flint water litigation," said Attorney General Press Secretary Danny Wimmer in a written statement, "The plaintiffs do not have the evidence to support their allegations. Instead, the evidence confirms that the state agencies are not responsible for the dam’s failure."
The civil trial is scheduled to take place in Jan. 2026.
