Jun 17, 2008
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WTOM-TV Traverse City
New Michigan business tax impact companies
Area businesses are beginning to feel the impact of Michigan's business tax which debuted in January.
Related Topix:
Pellston, MI,
Michigan
Thu Mar 06, 2008
www.kinross.net
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Patch Productions
The greedy hand of Township government and some of its Trustees
The Kinross Township Board has collected another $23,000.00 in bennies from the Township Taxpayers that include Life Insurance, Pension, and Prescription Reimbursement. Prescription Reimbursement? What's that you ask? Not what you might think. This reimbursement is for Board members who choose to get name brand prescriptions rather than generic. That's right, they choose to get the more expensive kind and get reimbursed at your expense. Ed DeWitt received an astonishing $1,739.60 in reimbursements for the name brand prescriptions. Vicki Ulrich was the next highest with $1,502.76. That's not including their spouse reimbursements that are estimated to be another $2,500.00 more.
I'll bet your glad knowing that you pay for these Board members Pensions as well. $11,000.00 in Pension for Oberle, Besteman, Ulrich and Dewitt. Full time benefits for part time elected officials. Check out the FOIA information I received from the Township detailing this information. I had to pay another $21.31 for this information. Thank you to the reader that reminded me of these additional benefits.
Adam Smith described the
'invisible hand,' the hand of free commerce that brings magic order and harmony to our lives
.
Thomas Paine wrote of another hand, all too visible and intrusive:
the greedy hand of government.
www.kinross.biz
|
Patch Productions
Full time paid health care coverage for part time elected officials
I couldn’t agree more with Mr. Lawson’s letter from Wednesday, March 5 Evening News.
The idea of taxpayer paid health care coverage for part time elected officials is wrong and must be stopped. In Kinross, township taxpayers paid a whopping $172,000.00 in health Insurance premiums for Board members and their families. Yes that's correct, Kinross taxpayers paid in excess of $172,000.00 in Health Insurance premiums to cover Kinross Township Board members and their families. This is shocking by big city standards let alone a relatively small municipality. To their credit, two Board members declined their Insurance stating they believe they were not entitled to a full time benefit for part time public service. That information and more was provided to me by Kinross Township staff via a Freedom of Information Act request. I had to pay $150.00 to get this information and it can be inspected at
www.kinross.biz.
It should not be a surprise to the Township citizens to learn about previous attempts by the public and a few budget conscious Trustees to eliminate full time health care coverage for part time elected officials in 2004. This attempt was backed up by a petition of 120 voters in Kinross. What did the Board do? They tabled the motion and refused to act on it. It’s really not fair to expect people who don’t have insurance themselves to pay for health insurance for part-time elected officials.
So what do we do in a situation like this? We get active and involved in our local government no matter if it is Township or County. We need to go to the meetings, read the meeting minutes and get ready for the next election in November.
Joe Paczkowski
Kincheloe, MI
Wed Jan 30, 2008
Gaylord Herald-Times
The Herald Times' View: Legislators need us to think big
“You need to let your voice be heard to make changes”
It was only the second in a round of 10 sessions, but Monday's home builders association meeting with legislators didn't appear to yield any startling ideas or revelations about how to get Michigan's economy ...
via Gaylord Herald-Times
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Bay-Shore, MI,
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Opinion
Thu Dec 06, 2007
Mon Oct 08, 2007
Evening News
McDowell says budget crunch seven years in coming
State Rep. Gary McDowell said the protracted struggle over a new Michigan budget was many years in coming.
via Evening News
Mon Oct 01, 2007
Evening News
Road Construction
Race to the finish Most big road projects on track for fall finish EASTERN UPPER PENINSULA - Three of four major road projects under construction in various locations around the Eastern Upper Peninsula will be ...
via Evening News
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Chippewa County, MI,
Mackinac County, MI,
Sault Ste. Marie, MI