Financial Help for Sands Twp. on Property Tax Issue

A township received the financial help it asked the Marquette County Board to provide tonight.

Sands Township recently asked the county for financial help paying legal fees involving property tax valuation.

In the weak economy of the last few years, many property owners have seen the true cash value of their homes or properties decline much faster than their taxable values have.

Many of those property owners have protested the assessed value of their properties and have taken the matter to the Michigan Tax Tribunal.

Marquette County Commissioner Debbie Pellow says the township will likely appear before the tribunal soon on a property assessment, and she says it asked the county for $1,000 to help cover the legal costs involved.

There’s no word about the amount of property tax dollars in dispute, but the board voted tonight to give Sands Township the financial help.

Marquette County Administrator Scott Erbisch says two other townships in Marquette County have asked for, and received, financial help from the county for Michigan Tax Tribunal matters recently.

He says Negaunee Township did last year, and Chocolay Township received county assistance recently as well.

The county board also formally approved tonight the hiring of Duane Duray as the new manager of Sawyer International Airport.

He starts work at Sawyer in the second week of October.

Duray has been the manager of the Gogbeic–Iron County Airport in Ironwood since 2006.