Leland Township is the most recent county governmental unit that has agreed to contribute toward defense of an appeal by Cherryland Electric Cooperative to the State Tax Tribunal.

"It’s a specialized area of the law and it doesn’t make sense for each
township to pay
individually when the
cost can be shared."
—Angela Friske,
Bingham township assessor

The township board voted to participate in a cost-sharing arrangement with seven other townships in the county in which the utility is appealing its personal property taxes to the tribunal. Supervisor Harry Larkin said the cost is $200, which is what is being asked of each township to contribute.

The Leelanau townships are among 31 in the region named as defendants in the appeal of personal property tax assessments by Cherryland Electric. Their involvement is the most recent development in the longstanding appeal for which a “status conference” is scheduled with the Tax Tribunal Sept. 25 in Lansing.

Angela Friske, the Bingham Township assessor, has been organizing the effort to defend local assessments.

“If your home is 1,000 feet off the road, the utility will go in 150 feet and the remainder you pay for,” she explained. Utilities pay personal property taxes on their poles and other “construction in aid” involving a consumer receiving service. That includes the balance of the utility line, for which the property owner paid. But in 1999, Consumers Energy claimed it was not the “owner” and shouldn’t have to claim the line as its personal property.

A state court supported the claim and ruled that the “construction in aid” for the property owner did not have to be assessed as the utility’s personal property. Subsequently, other private utilities filed an “errors and omissions” claim with the state for 1999, 2000, 2001 and 2002 to readjust their assessments for those tax years.

The court denied the request and ruled that the assessments could not be levied after 2003. This decision was appealed to the State of Michigan.

The Ontonagon County Rural Electrification Association, a utility similar to Cherryland in the Upper Peninsula, also filed suit challenging the personal property assessments and had the case dismissed.

Friske is awaiting results from a recent status conference between Cherryland and units of government in Grand Traverse County. In the meantime, local affected townships are being approached to share the cost of defending assessments.

Leland, Kasson, Suttons Bay and Bingham townships have already agreed to participate in the arrangement and will be represented in the status conference by Tom Greer of the Traverse City law firm of Running, Wise & Ford.

“It’s a specialized area of the law and it doesn’t make sense for each township to pay individually when the cost can be shared,” Friske said.

Kasson’s contribution is limited to $200.

Other affected townships in the county are Centerville, Solon, Elmwood, Leelanau and Empire.