About 50 people attended a hearing Tuesday, January 8, in Cedarville to ask questions about a proposed Downtown Development Authority (DDA) in Clark Township. Some residents spoke out against the possibility of future taxes being levied against them to fund DDA projects, others wondered if the community is large enough to support a DDA, and several residents asked to be excluded from the district.

If a DDA is formed, the township board will have the right to levy up to two mills, without public vote, on properties in the district for DDA projects.

Cedarville resident Bob Alexander is opposed to such tax levies and wanted to know how often the township board could impose the extra mills.

DDA search committee member Rick Shapero said only up to two mills could be levied at any one time.

"They can do just one " millage levy, he said. "They can't be piggy backed onto one another."

He added that the search committee is checking to see if the ordinance can be rewritten to lawfully allow for public approval of those potential tax levies.

Mr. Alexander said he also questions whether properties in the downtown areas of Cedarville and Hessel would be able to provide enough money to operate a DDA, and whether such an organization would be just one more level of government to deal with.

Hessel resident Phil Valenti also expressed concern that he and his neighbors would have to pay the taxes if they are ever levied in the DDA district.

Mr. Valenti, who lives on Lake Street, submitted his concerns to the township board, asking that the residential block bordered by Centre Street to the east, Lake Street to the south and west, and Cedar Street on the north be excluded from the proposed boundaries. He wants to be excluded not only to avoid the extra taxes, but because he feels his block is not a part of Hessel's traditional downtown area.

"The area I have described is, and always has been, recognized as a residential area and not part of the downtown area of Hessel," he said.

Search committee member Ken Drenth said that this block was drawn into the proposed boundaries for possible projects to enhance the waterfront.

"The initial thought was that we need to improve that shoreline," he said.

Mr. Drenth said the committee anticipated some residents would want to be excluded from the proposed boundaries. Private homes were included in the boundaries based on the recommendation from DDA directors across the state, he said.

"It was by the recommendation from other DDA boards, who said, 'Make your DDA boundaries as large as possible, because if you implement a TIFA, it gives you some tax-base to work with. If you don't have a tax-base to work with, it really limits what your DDA board can do,'" he said.

A TIFA (tax increment finance authority) is a financing tool that captures future growth in property values in the district to finance DDA projects. It is based on the idea that as the downtown areas are improved, businesses will invest more in their properties, which in turn will increase their property values. Taxes collected because of that increased value are what go to the DDA.

Increased value could also come from inflation.

The other reason to propose a large boundary area, Mr. Shapero said, is so residents can help decide the final boundaries. It is easier to reduce the size of a DDA district than to expand it, he said. Property owners have 60 days to recommend to the township a reduced boundary. Expanding it, however, would require another hearing.

Mr. Drenth noted that government agencies that collect taxes in Clark Township also have 60 days to be excused from the DDA program. He speculated that the hospital and school would choose not to participate because they will need all the tax revenue allocated to them, but that he thinks the county and the township will allow the portion of their millages for increased value to be collected.

It may take years before funds generated from a TIFA become significant, Mr. Shapero said, but there also are grants and other initiatives available to DDAs that are not available to the township or other organizations, which could benefit the community.

Mr. Valenti also said he hoped that a "talking points" paper distributed to the township board explaining the DDA would be made available to the public.

Hessel commercial property owner Wesley Maurer spoke in support of the formation of a DDA.

"What I see the DDA doing here is to do things like beautification and development of beaches and public areas to make the community more attractive, not necessarily just for tourists coming in, but for the residents," he said.

Rich Reichlin, who rents a building in the proposed district, said a DDA could stimulate businesses to improve their properties, and that the additional people drawn to a progressive downtown cold mean the difference in success or failure for many businesses.

"Enlist the whole downtown, residential and commercial alike," he said. "It may put some of us that are struggling over that edge to really be successful."

The purpose of the hearing was to answer questions and take public comments regarding the proposed DDA ordinance and boundaries.

"We all know that our community faces some pretty strong economic challenges, whether it's businesses closing or declining enrollment at the school," Mr. Shapero said. "We are not here to say that a downtown development authority is a magic bullet to fix all that. We are suggesting it's a possible tool to help our community help itself and move forward in a positive way."

DDAs have access to funding and programs that the township otherwise would not get, he noted.

He said some of the goals he hopes to see a DDA accomplish include programs to help entrepreneurs start businesses, creating more public access to the waterfront as well as improving it aes- thetically, installing public restrooms, and creating a "community asset map," which he described as a database to outline the township government structure, tax structure, school district, and faith community.

"All the things that if a business was wanting to locate here, or residents wanted to know what's going on in their community, be located in one resource where they can find all that information," he said.

The public is encouraged to express its opinions, positive or negative, to the township board concerning the formation of a DDA and the proposed boundaries. Property owners within those boundaries wanting to be excluded from the district have 60 days after the hearing to submit a letter to the township board explaining why.

The township board must wait at least 60 days after the public hearing to vote on the matter, and cannot vote to enact the DDA ordinance until as early as Monday, March 9.

If the ordinance is approved, a board of eight to 12 citizens, including the township supervisor, will be appointed to govern the authority.

An error in the proposed district description that was published earlier, Mr. Drenth said, will be corrected in a new notice to be published in The St. Ignace News this week. A map of the proposed district can be seen at the township hall.