Green Oak Township Approves Expanded Legal BudgetsGreen Oak Township Approves Expanded Legal Budgets

3/25/13 - After a year of unexpectedly high legal fees, Green Oak Township has approved increasing its legal budget in several areas of its government. Supervisor Mark St. Charles says the township has had a lot of litigation in the past year, resulting in part from the state’s decision to rezone portions of the township from industrial to commercial. That change included a tax increase of 1.8 mils, which landowners have challenged in court and the township assessing department is forced to defend. Litigation involving ordinance enforcement, including the legal battle with the Barnstormer entertainment venue, contributed to the increased attorney cost as well. Attorneys were also employed to revise township ordinances. St. Charles says the legal budgets for the township board, ordinance enforcement, and assessing department budgets were increased by approximately $65,000 for the current budget year to prevent overages. He says the township does not budget all of its revenues, so there is enough money left over to absorb these larger budgets. St. Charles says the ongoing litigation involving Liquid Manufacturing did not contribute to this problem, since those legal fees are paid for through the sewer system budget. (TD)