Four Lakes Task Force Assessment to be Determined Tuesday

UPDATE: This story has been updated to reflect information from the Four Lakes Task Force regarding the at-large assessment, which can be found here: four-lakes-taskforce-mi.com. The story originally stated the assessment will affect all residents of Midland and Gladwin counties, which it will not.

The Four Lakes Task Force is nearly finished on its assessment of the damages caused by the Edenville and Sanford dam failures in May 2020.

A special meeting of the Boards of Commissioners of both Gladwin and Midland counties will determine if residents will see an increase in taxes. The meeting takes place Tuesday, July 12 at noon at Meridian High School in Sanford. The task force has proposed a special assessment to pay for the operation and maintenance of the dams, which will no longer be funded by hydroelectric power. The assessment would be paid from the counties’ general funds. This means the counties, by law, may determine to contribute to a portion of maintaining the normal legal lake levels by paying out of their general funds. If the counties approve the at-large assessment, it will be because they agree there is an economic and tax benefit to their county.

Property owners in Gladwin and Midland counties that are not in the special assessment district will NOT have an assessment on their tax bill.