With the Dexter referendum election less than a month away, the two opposing sides on whether Dexter should or should not continue with the process of becoming a city are becoming more solidified.
Voters will decide if the quest to become a city should continue at the May 7 election. A yes vote will move the process of becoming a city to the next step, and a no vote will end the cityhood process.
Residents are deciding May 7 whether the village of Dexter should keep pursuing cityhood.
Downtown Dexter MI
Some Dexter residents recently formed the Committee to Keep Dexter a Village, with reasons that include not wanting to lose the small town feel of the village and not wanting to lose representation in Scio and Webster townships.
That committee will meet for its second time at 10 a.m. Saturday (April 13) at Foggy Bottom Coffee House, 7065 Dexter Ann Arbor Road, in Dexter. Participants include former Village Council trustee Jim Smith.
"Throughout the process dictated by the state, the government of the village has made it well known that they are in favor of becoming a city," said Smith, co-chair of the Committee to Keep Dexter a Village. "Our group formed to let residents know there is more information to consider."
Smith says that five members of the Dexter Village Council along with a small group of residents attended the April 6 meeting of the committee.
"The committee is still in its development stage and working on our campaign materials," said Smith. "For now, we want people to know we exist and to take the time to see the pros and cons of the issue. Plus, we will provide an avenue for those that wish to join us in explaining the reasons not to become a city."
"I believe that the majority of our residents are interested in allowing the process to continue to the next steps where they will have an actual draft charter and set of facts to review and use as the basis for their future decision on cityhood," said Keough.
If the yes vote wins on May 7, the Boundary Commission orders that an election be held to elect a Charter Commission, a nine-member group who will write the governing document for the new city. That election could take place as soon as November 2013.
That document must then be approved by the Michigan Attorney General, after which voters in Dexter would vote on whether to accept the document. If Dexter voters approved the document, the village would officially become a city.
Keough says that most of the services that the residents and business of Dexter receive such as police and fire rescue, public water and sewer, garbage collection, and street and park maintenance, are provided by the village of Dexter.
"Scio and Webster Townships currently provide only two services - assessing services and administering the elections - to the village residents," said Keough. "Cityhood would remove an unnecessary layer of government and simplify many things for our residents."
He says that village taxpayers pay about $300,000 to the two townships for those services. As a city, Keough says those two services could be provided for about a quarter of the cost (less than $75,000.)
Other changes that would occur if Dexter becomes a city include that city residents will no longer be able to vote for township offices and ballot questions, and all personal property taxes will be collected by the city and then distributed appropriately to the schools, county, etc. For more information, go to http://www.dextermi.gov/cityhood.
A town hall meeting has been scheduled by the village of Dexter at noon Saturday, April 27 at the Dexter District Library for the purpose of discussing the May 7 referendum election.
Read the full ballot language on the county's website.
Lisa Carolin is a freelance reporter. Contact the AnnArbor.com news desk at news@annarbor.com.