Politics & Government

Judge Rules Dearborn Can Capture Detroit Zoo, DIA Millage Dollars

Lt. Gov. Brian Calley signed four bills on Tuesday preventing future money from being diverted in voter-approved millage proposals.

The city of Dearborn will not have to pay back any money it captured from voter-approved tax levies for the Detroit Zoo and Detroit Institute of the Arts a Michigan judge ruled.

Wayne County Circuit Judge Daniel Ryan said on June 14 that Dearborn and eight other communities — including Wyandotte, Northville, and Plymouth Township — were within their rights to capture a portion of the millage to help with business growth in their Downtown Development Authorities.

The communities filed a lawsuit against Wayne County Treasurer Raymond Wojtowicz and the two taxing authorities set up to oversee the DIA and zoo millages earlier this year.

According to the Detroit Free Press, Ryan said capturing money for the special districts in the communities was "legislatively authorized," and the municipalities did not do anything wrong.

Dearborn Mayor John B. O'Reilly, Jr. told Patch.com that he was pleased with the judge's decision.

"We are not trying to take money away from the DIA or the zoo," he said. "The only reason why we initiated this lawsuit was to have a judge reaffirm what we already knew to be true."

At issue, according to Dearborn city attorney Debra Walling, is whether or not communities are permitted to capture a portion of the increased tax revenue generated by the millage via special tax districts, called tax increment finance authorities or TIFs. In Dearborn, the West Dearborn Downtown Development Authority and the East Dearborn Downtown Development Authority are TIFs.

The presumption is that development will increase the value of the area; a TIF captures a portion of the resulting tax revenue to either secure financing for projects in the DDA or to fund DDA operations within the district.

O'Reilly said because the DIA millage and zoo millage weren’t in place when those development districts were originally formed, any money collected for those millages can legally be kept locally.

"The county had no basis to force us to pay back the money," O'Reilly said. "If they wanted 100 percent of the millage to go toward the DIA and the Detroit Zoo, that language had to be in the ballot proposal."

In an effort to prevent future issues with tax dollars earmarked for the DIA and Detroit Zoo, Lt. Gov. Brian Calley signed House Bills 4458, and 4461-4463 into law on Tuesday.

Find out what's happening in Dearbornwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

The bills prohibit a TIF or a Local Development Financing Authority from capturing regional property taxes meant to subsidize the Detroit Zoo and the Detroit Institute for the Arts.

“Voters approved millages to support these cultural icons, and these bills guarantee that the voice of the voters in southeast Michigan is not only heard, but followed,” Calley said in a press release.

Find out what's happening in Dearbornwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Walling said though the city takes exception to the new laws, officials respect the legislative process and Dearborn will not collect on the DIA or zoo millages in the future.

"We treat issues related to taxpayer dollars very seriously, and hopefully people respect that," Walling said. "We will do whatever the law instructs us to do."


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