By Carol Stiffler
More than 70 people affected by the new Big Manistique Lake Special Assessment District attended a Friday meeting where they learned what factors were used to determine what each parcel in the district will owe.
The meeting was held in the main ballroom of the Erickson Center for the Arts in Curtis. Big Manistique Lake Authority Board President Kevin Orlowski chaired the meeting, while legal counsel Stacy Hissong explained details of the assessment and the district itself.
The district was established to fund the operation, maintenance, and potential improvement of the dam that controls the lake level. The district is made of 855 total parcels, including 699 properties on the lakefront, 154 back lots with deeded lake access, and two non-accessible or exempt parcels.
The assessment itself works like a tax and will appear on winter tax bills for those in the district – though it’s technically not a tax. This is the first assessment after the district was created, and it is primarily being levied to cover the legal and statutory costs incurred while establishing the district.
This first assessment will bring in $183,000, and after expenses are paid, more than $17,000 will remain in a contingency fund. The seven-member Big Manistique Lake Authority can spend that money on future dam inspections or unforeseen needs.
That contingency fund may carry the district for a number of years before the next assessment may be necessary.
Parcels were evaluated based on size and use, not value. Lakefront lots with more shoreline footage will pay more than those with smaller shoreline footage, and public use lots like boat launches will be charged much more due to heavy use.
Public and governmental bodies are not exempt from this assessment. Luce and Mackinac counties are each charged $915, and Portage and Lakefield townships are each billed $3,660. The Michigan Department of Natural Resources has four parcels assessed within the district, and will be charged for all of them.
Residents in the assessment district have 15 days after both counties approve the assessment to file an appeal if they wish. Luce County was expected to review and approve the district assessment on Tuesday, September 16, and Mackinac County will review it and vote on September 25. If both approve the assessment, the 15-day appeal window opens on September 26.
The district is the result of more than a century – yes, a full 100 years – of dispute regarding the lake level and the dam that controls water levels. The dam has been under intense scrutiny in recent years as residents on the north and south sides of the lake grapple with water levels that are often too high on the south shore or too low on the north shore.
A court order, established in 1948 and updated in 1978, set the Big lake’s water level at 686 feet above sea level in the summer. A recent revision now allows for a winter drawdown to 685 feet above sea level.
The manistiquelakelevel.net website has information about the assessment district, including how much each parcel has been billed, and up-to-date lake level readings, which are automatically updated four times an hour.
