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No. 26
NEWS YOU CAN USE, NEWS YOU CAN TRUST
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June 27 – July 2, 2013
w w w . a s s o c i a t e d n e w s p a p e r s . n e t
It took him two meetings
and much public discussion,
but Wayne City Councilman
John Rhaesa was finally suc-
cessful in his efforts to fund
theMainStreet program.
See page 5.
The first in a series of
planned road and storm sewer
improvements is under way
throughout the City of
Romulus.
See page 3.
The historic downtown
Plymouth Post Office building
has been sold to a Plymouth
couple, although the new own-
ership has not yet been final-
ized.
See page 5.
The Arts and Acts Festival
will return to downtown
Northville this weekend shin-
ing a spotlight on the imagina-
tion, art, talent and cultural
diversity of area artists.
See page 3.
The public is invited to the
first Coffee with a Cop session
planned by the Van Buren
Township Police from 8-10
a.m. July 13 at Leo's Coney
Island.
See page 4.
Vol. 128, No. 26
Vol. 66, No. 26
Vol. 66, No. 26
Vol. 13, No. 26
Vol. 128, No. 26
Vol. 66, No. 26
Vol. 66, No. 26
The body of Teamsters'
Union boss Jimmy Hoffa will
never be found, according to a
law enforcement source, as he
was put through a wood chip-
per in Inkster.
See page 4.
For home delivery of The Eagle call 734-467-1900.
Plans for the new 64,000
square foot Westland City Hall
are getting a first look by City
Council members who saw
plenty of changes planned for
the newbuilding.
See page 5
.
Canton officials rejected to
reject a request for $15,000
from the Ann Arbor Transit
Authority which operates
between Ann Arbor and the
township.
See page 4
.
Vol. 13, No. 26
Local communities will no longer be able to
capture any part of the millages voters
approved to support the Detroit Zoo or the
Detroit Institute of Arts.
Lt. Gov. Brian Calley signed four bills last
week that will prevent the tax money designat-
ed for support of the two specific entities from
being diverted into local Tax Increment
FinanceAuthority districts (TIFA).
These districts have long been established
by local communities under provisions of state
law to capture any increased taxes levied with-
in the districts to be used for local improve-
ments within the boundaries created by the
municipality. Despite a June 14 ruling by
Wayne County Circuit Judge Daniel Ryan that
the capture of the zoo and art institute millages
by local governments was legal, local use of the
fundswas curtailedby the newstate legislation.
Ryan ruled that the use of a portion of the
dedicated millages approved by voters into the
Downtown Development Authority established
TIFA districts was within the provision of the
state law when nine Wayne County communi-
ties filed a lawsuit against Wayne County
TreasurerRaymondWojtowicz and the two tax-
ing authorities set up to oversee the DIA and
zoomillages in January. Wojtowicz sent a letter
to all the affected communities early this year
warning themto stop the collection of the tax as
it was improper.. Wojtowicz based his conclu-
sion on legal opinions from former State
Attorney General Mike Cox and current State
AttorneyGeneral Bill Schuettewho both issued
opinions stating that the capturewas not legal.
Local communities had diverted about
$200,000 from the zoo millage approved in 2008
but had not yet taken funding from the DIA
millage approved lastNovember.
In Belleville, one of the communities who
joined the lawsuit, the Downtown
Development Authority captured $3,214.94 of
zoo tax revenue in 2008. In 2010, the city cap-
tured another $2,847.26.
Traditionally, the onlookers at
the
Annual
Northville
Independence Day Parade are
as much a part of the event as
the line-up of floats, bands, musi-
cians, equestrians and charac-
ters.
“It just gets better every year,”
noted Shari Peters, president of
the Northville Community
Foundation which has organized
the parade for 14 years. Peters
said the Parade Committee
selects a theme every year and
this year, “America, Yesterday,
Today and Forever,” is sure to
bring out the red, white and blue
spirit crowd of about 20,000 or so.
“Every year, it just seems to
grow and get larger and larger,”
saidPeters,
The real heroes of the event
are the volunteers and the com-
mitteemembers who work a full-
year on the event, Peters said.
Each of the classifications, like
the vintage cars or the floats or
bands, is led by a volunteer who
helps organize that specific seg-
ment of the parade.
“Each year the parade com-
mittee does an excellent job of
stretching themselves to bring
new entries to the Northville
parade, Peters said. “We just
couldn't do this without them
and the involvement of the
entire community.”
The parade will officially
begin on the dot of 10 a.m. when
the long line of marchers leaves
the staging area at the foot of
Griswold and Main Street. The
parade will travel up to Main
Street, from Main to Rogers
Street, fromRogers to Cady, from
Cady to Wing and from Wing
Street toFairbrook.
Peters said that as usual there
will be plenty of music, several
larger floats, marching bands,
clowns, children's characters,
vintage and classic cars, the very
popular bike parade, sponsored
by Meijer and Hunter
Orthodontics and, of course, the
pet parade which attracts chil-
dren of all ages to show off their
pets. One year, Peters said, a
youngster brought his goldfish in
Thousands of people are
expected to line Main Street in
downtown Plymouth early next
Thursday morning, waiting for
the Annual Good Morning USA
parade. The 4th of July parade
begins at 9 a.m. and will travel
down Main Street for 1.25 miles
fromTheodore toHartsough.
The parade theme this year
will be "Salute the Troops" featur-
ing veterans from World War II,
Korea, Vietnam, Desert Storm
and others. Fred Hill, the parade
organizer, described the parade
as a "variety show inmotion.
Parade participants include
the Martin Luther King Jr.
Marching Band, Steve King and
the Dittlies, Mark Randisi and
the Sounds of Sinatra, Dogmatics
dog drill team, a 30-foot Uncle
Sam balloon, a 30-foot Kermit the
Frog balloon, Plymouth Fife &
Drum Corps, Special Olympics
marchers, a briefcase drill team,
stilt walkers, horses, fire engines,
clowns, and much more, Hill
said. This year there are more
than 85 entries in the parade that
will entertain crowds for about 75
minutes.
The State Senate approved leg-
islation last Wednesday giving
State Superintendent of Public
Instruction Mike Flanagan and
State Treasurer Andy Dillon the
authority to close the financially
failing Inkster School District and
send district students to neighbor-
ing schools.
House bills 4813 and 4815 were
approved by 20-18 votes in the
Senate. The bills include provi-
sions to use the local school tax
money paid by Inkster residents to
pay off the estimated $16 million
school district debt. Provisions of
the bill included the Buena Vista
School District located near
Saginaw that is also in a budget
deficit.
An analysis by theHouse Fiscal
Agency indicates that the dissolu-
tion of the two districts could cost
the state $9 million the first year
from the state School Aid Fund.
Part of that expense will be the
per-pupil state funding which will
go to neighboring districts where
students enroll. The analysis esti-
mates that it will cost the state
$700-$800 per student transferred
from the dissolved districts into
neighboring schools.
The expense, the analysis
detailed, is less than half of the
estimated $19 million combined
deficit of the two districts. The
Inkster deficit was last reported by
a boardmember at $12 million but
the Michigan Department of
Education released a report early
this month showing the $16 mil-
lionbudget deficit.
The
state
House
of
Representatives will have to
approve amendments made to the
bills in the Senate before the legis-
lation can go to Gov. Rick Snyder.
Advocates of the plan have said
that implementing the dissolution
plans will take at least eight
weeks, although opponents have
cited the nearly two-year timeline
for the merger of Ypsilanti and
Willow Run schools as making the
eight-week estimateunrealistic.
Local school districts may absorb Inkster students
The popular bike parade, sponsored by Meijer and Hunter
Orthodontics is expected to draw a large crowd of Northville young-
sters hoping to win the top prize.
See
Northville,
page 2
See
Plymouth,
page 2
See
Millage,
page 2
Local communities had diverted
about $200,000 from
the zoo millage approved in 2008.
”
Capture of zoo, DIA tax outlawed
Celebrate
Annual Independence Day
parades fill downtown streets
Northville expects crowd of 25,000
Kiwanis Club sponsors annual Plymouth Main Street Fourth of July Parade
Fred Hill and the Briefcase Brigade are a highlight of the annual
Plymouth Fourth of July parade.