ANN ARBOR, Mich. - An Ann Arbor "community standards
officer" took down anti-school millage signs in front of a township residence,
only to learn that he was outside his jurisdiction, according to a report in
AnnArbor.com.
Scio Township resident John Boyle told AnnArbor.com that he
placed four signs in his front yard urging residents to vote "no" on a
Washtenaw County school millage request next Tuesday. When an Ann Arbor city
enforcement officer tried to confiscate the signs, Boyle informed him that he
was not within city limits, the report said.
"It was just utterly astounding," Boyle told
AnnArbor.com. "The officer said, 'You're violating community standards.'
And I said, 'Whose standards?' And he said, 'The city of Ann Arbor.'"
Boyle said that when he retrieved his signs from the
officer's truck, he saw the officer had confiscated a number of other
anti-millage signs, but no signs supporting the millage.
City Administrator Roger Fraser said he has personally apologized
to Boyle for the incident, AnnArbor.com reported, and called it a case of human
error which was not politically motivated. He said sign removal is generally
based on right-of-way restrictions.
The Washtenaw Intermediate School District is asking voters
to approve a new 2-mill tax Tuesday that would raise about $30 million annually
for school districts countywide.
SOURCE:
AnnArbor.com, "Scio
Township resident claims city officer overstepped bounds by removing
anti-school millage signs," Oct. 20, 2009
FURTHER READING:
Mackinac Center for Public Policy, "A
Michigan School Money Primer: Local Property Taxes by Type," May 30, 2007