Letter about a Board of Determination & Special Assessments
Published on Aug 30, 2021 16:19

Recently, many city residents received a mailing from the Wayne County Drain Commissioner.  This notice is a result of five residents filing a petition in January of 2013 with Wayne County to make improvements in the Tonquish Creek as a result of flooding in their back yards.   The notice from the County Drain Commissioner’s Office provided information on how to attend the Board of Determination electronically and a phone number to call for more information but gave little other information.

The question that we keep getting at City Offices is “why did I receive a notice for this meeting?”  The notice from Wayne County means that on Thursday, September 2, 2021, the County Board of Determination will meet and if they make a finding that there should be some type of project in the Tonquish Creek Drain, the County will most likely place a Special Assessment on your property taxes for improvements of the Tonquish Creek.   Again, this will be a Wayne County Special Assessment for drain improvements, in addition to all other taxes on your tax bill.

Once a determination of a project need is made at a Board of Determination Meeting, the County’s Engineer and Drain Commissioner will administratively determine the scope or size of the project.  The costs for the project will then be special assessed onto the taxes of all of the private property owners who received a notice.  Special assessments will also be forced onto the City as the owner of many neighborhood parks and other public properties. 

The upcoming Board of Determination meeting on Thursday is really the property owner’s only chance to indicate that they either in support of or opposed to a project along the Tonquish Creek Drain.  If the Board of Determination authorizes a project the County Engineer will design a project and the costs will be spread out to all properties within the Tonquish Creek Drain.  Once a project has been authorized, the Drain Commissioner will calculate the costs to be assessed on each property within the drainage district.  A second Public Hearing will be held to merely determine the accuracy of the math related to the assessment, not the scope or size of the project. 

For questions related to Board of Determination Tonquish Creek Drain Meeting, please refer to the notice you received and the Frequently Asked Questions sheet that was enclosed in your mailing.  You can also leave a message for the County’s Contractor at 313-482-9465.