Mackinac County commissioners will contribute $10,000 to the 2009 remonumentation program. The funding will pay for the survey work of eight survey corner posts, which includes administration costs and materials.

Jeffrey Davis, Mackinac County surveyor, made the funding request Thursday, December 11.

This year, funding from the state will dropped by $33,859.54 compared to 2008, when the state gave the county $66,514.54 for survey work to set new monuments. State funding is based on population, area, and county contribution.

Counties also can contribute to the program and the state will match county funds, said Mr. Davis.

The state program pays counties to reestabish survey corners. Most were set by the General Land Office Survey in the 1840s. Many of Michigan's original property lines are based on 150-year-old corners, and some of those corners were marked with cedar posts and other objects that have since disappeared.

The program is funded from a $2 deed registration fee. With the housing market in a slump, state funding to counties has fallen.

Records kept at the Mackinac County Treasurer's office indicate since 1999, the state has contributed $701,258.31 to the local project with the highest annual amount of $133,713.15 received in 2005. This year, the state's contribution is slightly higher than the previous alltime low of $32,034.40, which was the first year the program began.

So far, 870 corners in Mackinac County have been completed, out of 3,700. In 2008, 33 section corners were set and 26 corners previously done had global positioning system coordinates set.