- A decision on assessments to reconstruct Lansing Avenue in Jackson has, once again, been postponed.
- Lansing Avenue property owners are facing thousands of dollars in assessments to raise about $450,000 the City needs for Lansing Avenue reconstruction.
- Watch the video to see how property owners in the area are responding to the possible spike in taxes.
I’m your neighborhood reporter Darius Udrys, Fox 47 News at City Hall in Jackson, where a decision on assessments to reconstruct Lansing Avenue has, once again, been postponed.
With one Council Member absent, and a supermajority required to pass the assessment due to a successful petition by property owners, Vice-Mayor Freddie Dancy made a motion to remove the item from the Council Agenda. The Council concurred, postponing to next month.
Lansing Avenue property owners are facing thousands of dollars in assessments to raise about $450,000 the City needs for Lansing Avenue reconstruction.
Property owners like Devin Hurst, Owner of Claremont Barber Club, question the logic of the proposed assessment.
“You know, everybody drives on the road. I don’t know why they’re only wanting to come after us 19 to pay for it, if that makes any sense,” said Hurst.
The problem, according to City Engineer Jon Dowling, is that there is no convenient way to raise the needed money.
His presentation on millage versus assessment demonstrated one thing: there is no simple alternative.
“A business, yes, would be paying either the same or more in a millage system than what their property assessments would be over the years,” he calculates.
And the problem, Dowling says, is Jackson — at about 9.5 — is already close to the maximum millage its charter allows. An amendment could change that, but the state maximum is 20. And an additional 10 mills wouldn’t solve the problem, either.
According to Dowling, “if we had 10 mills, it would take 58 years to rebuild all of the streets in the City.”
So, it seems, Jackson has a problem: too many streets, not enough money.
EARLIER IN THE DAY, I TALKED TO NEIGHBORHOOD PROPERTY OWNERS AFFECTED BY THE ASSESSMENTS. WATCH THE VIDEO BELOW FOR THEIR REACTIONS.
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