Council grants rare exception for special assessment district tax

HILLSDALE — “I think this is the wrong motion for the wrong reason.”

City Manager David Mackie and Kim Thomas, the city’s tax assessor, strongly advocated against a proposal to grant an exemption from a special assessment district tax for a vacant lot owned by Ian Church, a resident of Ward 3 on Cold Springs Circle.

Church, a Hillsdale College professor, renewed pleas Monday, April 15, for an exemption as he owned two and a third lots in his neighborhood with the middle lot connecting his two lots co-owned between himself and two other neighbors.

He first made the plea during an October 2022 council meeting and said the argument was whether or not the properties were contiguous, but, as Thomas explained, they are assessed on three separate property tax bills.

Church argued that his assessed tax under the SAD over the next 10 years — being $8,333 — was an unnecessary hardship on his family as others only owed $5,000 (the city’s cap for SAD taxes).

His renewed pleas during the April 15 public hearing on the Westwood Street infrastructure SAD tax rolls sparked a lengthy debate between the council and city staff.

“That is something we can do tonight is vote to approve an exception for Mr. Church’s property,” Mayor Adam Stockford said.

Thomas indicated the other two property owners who shared ownership of the lot in question were also being taxed additional assessments which will be used to fund a $6.5 million infrastructure project beginning this spring in most of the city’s Ward 3.

More: Bonds, special assessment district to fund $6.5M infrastructure project

Councilman Greg Stuchell argued that while other property owners may be subjected to additional assessment taxes, they did not come to the council to ask for an exception as Church had.

“To just waive it, in my opinion, would be granting special favor to Mr. Church and that’s what we’re trying to avoid,” Mackie added.

Mackie said that city staff had ongoing discussions with Church over the last year and a half offering various solutions to the issue with no resolve which sparked Church’s renewed pleas to the council.

Councilman Rob Socha stated that while others had come to the council previously arguing that the special assessment district tax of $5,000 over 10 years would be a financial hardship to their families, the council had approved them anyway.

“It’s a hard decision to make,” Socha said.

After a lengthy discussion back and forth and a final statement made by Mackie arguing that an exception constituted special favor to Church, Councilman Joshua Paladino made a motion, supported by Stockford, to grant an exception for Church’s vacant lot that he owned himself.

Councilwoman Cynthia Pratt and Councilmen Bruce Sharp and Tony Vear both voted against the exception while Stockford, Paladino, Socha, Stuchell and Councilmen Will Morrisey and Greg Stuchell all voted in favor of the exception for Church.

The council then took up the issue of the tax roll for the Westwood Street SAD.

Vear made a motion to approve the tax roll as amended and Socha supported it with Stockford, Paladino and Pratt voting against approving the tax roll.

Contractors have already begun making necessary preparations for the multi-million dollar project to proceed and the intersection of Lewis Street and Westwood Street has been closed to through traffic so that installation of utility casings underneath a nearby railroad track can proceed.

The Westwood Street Project, as it has been deemed by the city, has been in the works for several years.

The city sent the project out to bid in January 2023 and did not receive anything back from contractors by the bids deadline on Feb. 28, 2023.

Various contractors told the city their 2023 schedules were full due to delayed projects from 2022 which stemmed from material and labor shortages that remain today. Contractors also told the city the construction market has been “flooded” with extra work from the introduction of infrastructure funds for state highways.

Without a contractor available in 2023, the city modified the bid request package to reflect a finish date of November 2024 before re-sending the project back out for bidding.

The “Westwood Street” project has been an ongoing discussion in the city of Hillsdale for years but never came to fruition due to a lack of funding for the multi-faceted infrastructure overhaul needed in the area.

The district includes “the full extent” of Westwood Drive, Sumac Drive, Picardy Place, Azalea Court, Corona Circle, Scenic Drive and Cold Springs Circle in addition to Westwood Street from Cold Springs Circle to Lewis Street and Highland and Glendale Avenues from Westwood Street to Bacon Street.

Infrastructure in these areas is failing with numerous water main breaks reported each year and Sharp compared the roads in the district with roads of a third world country, at times calling them deplorable at best.

The project includes a total infrastructure replacement to include water mains, curb, sidewalk, sub-road materials and at least four inches of new asphalt.

The city spent $150,000 in American Rescue Plan Act funds to design the specifications for the project. The special assessment district’s $5,000 tax increase over the next 10 years will account for only 16-percent of the $6.5 million cost, with remaining funds to come from a bond over the next 20 years which will be paid back with revenues from the city’s street fund and sewer and water rates.

The city has used special assessment districts elsewhere for infrastructure projects with the most recent project completed on South Howell Street, Morey Street and Lynwood Street.

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Across town in Ward 1, a special assessment district repaved a number of roads in quiet neighborhoods off State Street in 2021.

Addressing poor road conditions and failing infrastructure has been a top priority of the council for years and five years ago, less than 10 percent of the city’s roads were assessed as being in good condition.

Those statistics are closer to 30 percent in good condition currently, thanks to a number of grants, special assessments and “outside the box” thinking by the city to begin tackling neglected infrastructure.

— Contact Reporter Corey Murray at cmurray@hillsdale.net or follow him on X, formerly Twitter: @cmurrayHDN.

This article originally appeared on Hillsdale Daily News: Council grants rare exception for special assessment district tax