Serving Gogebic, Iron and Ontonagon Counties
Serving Gogebic, Iron and Ontonagon Counties
By PAMELA JANSSON
Marenisco TOWNSHIP — Marenisco and Watersmeet townships are continuing the push to get some share of the state PILT funds that now go to Gogebic County.
PILT stands for “payment in lieu of taxes,” and such payments are made to governmental entities that include federal property within their boundaries.
The payments are intended to compensate for any expenses incurred by local governments in relation to the federal land.
Marenisco Township supervisor Bruce Mahler told The Globe on July 19 that he and Watersmeet supervisor Mike Rogers are still working through related talks with the county.
“We’re negotiating with the county on the payment that goes to the county for the Ottawa National Forest,” said Mahler. “That money is supposed to be for the services provided for the forest.”
Currently, said Mahler, none of the PILT funds are distributed to local townships or cities. Instead, the funds are deposited into the county’s general budget. He said the county’s last PILT payment was $750,000.
Mahler added that Watersmeet and Marenisco townships are not asking the county to give their townships the entire state allotment, but rather just a reasonable amount to cover their actual expenses in relation to maintaining federal property within their townships.
“Most of the county is in federal forest,” he said of Marenisco Township.
According to Mahler, Marenisco and Watersmeet incur three main expenses in relation to the Ottawa Forest: law enforcement, fire protection and roads.
“There is no county fire service,” he said, noting that fire protection is maintained via three separate fire halls in Marenisco Township. Watersmeet Township also has a fire hall.
To help back up their argument, Mahler and Rogers are calculating expenses in relation to maintaining forest land.
“It’s hard to quantify,” said Mahler. “It’s not only the amount of service you provide. It’s the infrastructure for that service.”
He added that the infrastructure is needed whether the service is used or not.
In addition, he said that it is difficult to measure the positive outcome of preventive measures.
By means of illustration, he said officers have a habit of patrolling snowmobile trails, including those on forest land, within Marenisco and Watersmeet townships.
He then asked, “How do you measure someone not breaking in due to police presence?”
Essentially, said Mahler, any expense proven as related to an active trail issue is only a portion of true expenses.
“It’s roads too.” said Mahler. “There are some county roads. There are some forest service roads. There are some township roads.”
He said the township gets some separate money for roads from the U.S. Forest Service for roads — but it’s not always available.
Mahler said the hit taken by Marenisco and Watersmeet townships also goes beyond PILT funds, particularly in relation to county property taxes.
“Between Marenisco and Watersmeet, we provide almost 50% of the budget,” said Mahler, adding that the county’s four other remaining townships and the cities of Ironwood, Bessemer and Wakefield provide the remaining 50%.
“We’re providing half of the funding,” said Mahler of the property taxes collected throughout the county. “Do we get half of the service? No. And on top of that, they (county officials) take that additional PILT money.”
In a July 15 letter to county board chair James Lorenson, Rogers also addressed the PILT issue. The letter was expected to be addressed at Wednesday’s meeting of the Gogebic County Board of Commissioners.
“Hopefully, we’ll see some sort of resolution,” said Mahler.
He added in relation to the Oct. 1 start of the county’s next fiscal year, “I’m hoping we have an answer before the new budget year starts.”
In other business at a July 15 Marenisco Board of Trustees meeting, the board learned that the township’s road maintenance schedule had been updated.
Mahler said the entry from U.S. 2 to the unincorporated area of Marenisco has been refashioned and was expected to be paved this week.
Mahler said that, in recent weeks, U.S. 2 had been repaved between Great Lakes Road and Stagecoach Road.
He added that Hall and Curtis streets have been pulverized, with new paving expected on those roads also expected this week. In addition, an overlay is expected for 3rd Street.
