By David Fleet
Editor
Goodrich-On Sept. 26 the village council voted 4-0 to rescind and amend its June 24 resolution establishing the village millage rate at 6.9190 and amends the same to establish the 2019-20 tax rate for the village at 6.0000.
Council Member Tim Barraco did not attend the meeting with notice.
Sheri Wilkerson, village administrator said the millage set by the village charter is 10.000 mills. Then a formula, based on the Headlee Act, is used to determine the maximum and the minimum millage taxable. Currently, the most allowable was 6.9190.
The law requires the municipalities, like the village, to set a proposed millage rate and based on that set amount, a public hearing date, time must be published.
“The council set that amount at 6.0000 and that rate was published,” said Wilkerson. “We had two public hearings in fact.”

Then on June 24 the council made a motion to adopt the millage (of 6.0000) and it was defeated. Following the defeated motion another motion was made to set the millage at the maximum 6.9190.
The council OK’d the proposal 3-2. Council President Shannon McCafferty, Council President Pro-tem Tim Light and Council Member Tim Barraco voted yes. Council Member Wendy Ciaramitaro and Council Member Doug McAbee voted no.
In July the new tax rate was placed on the village property owners tax bills, due Sept. 30.
Wilkerson later questioned the millage change process and contacted Mellissa Hayduk, Genesee County Equalization Department director, who determined that since the 6.0000 mills was published for the public hearing that rate could not be changed by council to 6.9190, even if they approved the amount.
“To me the proposed 6.0000 millage means you might vote for it or you might not,” said Wilkerson. “That’s what we thought we could do.”
As a result, the village must adopt what they published, which was the 6.0000. Based on the recommendation of Village Attorney Tom McKenney, the millage was rescinded back to residents.
The refund checks will be issued in November to village residents based on the difference, .9190 mills.
The extra money had been earmarked to the general fund and than on to repair the village roads. The 6.9190 mills would have produced an additional $130,394.
“The extra money was to at least pay for the engineering for road projects,” she said. “To offset some of the cost for residents following a special assessment.”