please explain townships and cities etc in michigan (attorney, real estate)

[sarah9000]

Hi,

I'm new to this. But I would like to ask a question to people who have lived in Michigan a long time. I live in a township in Michigan and was informed on Saturday, that we have to pay to have our own road repaired. That for a few small repairs it will cost our small sub-division over 100,000.00 that 128 families have to pay for. I've lived in two other states besides Michigan over the last 48yrs and I've never heard of people having to pay to fix or put in their own roads. We pay township and county taxes. Please respond anyone with any info.

Thanks,

I'm trying to adjust to a whole new way of thinking. The other 2 states I lived in were 500 miles apart but very similar. But Michigan seems to have a whole different way of thinking.

[magellan]

Originally Posted by sarah9000

Hi,

I'm new to this. But I would like to ask a question to people who have lived in Michigan a long time. I live in a township in Michigan and was informed on Saturday, that we have to pay to have our own road repaired. That for a few small repairs it will cost our small sub-division over 100,000.00 that 128 families have to pay for. I've lived in two other states besides Michigan over the last 48yrs and I've never heard of people having to pay to fix or put in their own roads. We pay township and county taxes. Please respond anyone with any info.

Thanks,

I'm trying to adjust to a whole new way of thinking. The other 2 states I lived in were 500 miles apart but very similar. But Michigan seems to have a whole different way of thinking.

It doesn't really have anything to do with the township, even though it sounds like they were the ones that informed you of the news. Without knowing all the specifics....

1) I'm guessing you probably live in an association since it's 128 homes. The roads are most likely privately owned (owned by you and all the other co-owners) and not county-owned, which is why it falls on your shoulders to repair/repave them. One way to quickly tell is by who snowplows the roads: Is it a private contractor or county snowplows? Or if you pay association fees.
2) If indeed you are in an association, then it should have been the fiscal responsibility of the association to collect enough association fees to cover expenses AND set up a reserve fund to pay for infrastructure upgrades (like roads, detention ponds, etc.). I think Michigan law requires associations to set aside a certain percentage of funds for just such an occasion (check with a real estate attorney to be sure). If they didn't set up a reserve fund, you better have your board start collecting more fees so you don't get hit all at once on something similar in the future.
3) Get out your bylaws and start reading them if you have them. There should be a section in there regarding budgets, assessments and responsibilities.
4) I know for a fact there are associations in other states who control streets as private streets. It's actually becoming very common, and seen most often in gated communities. Associations like to have more control over their own destiny it seems.

If you're not in an association and they are not private streets, that would be a new one I hadn't heard before.

It sucks but it's (most likely) not the fault of your local government.