By Greg Chandler
Zeeland Record
The city of Zeeland plans to use most of a recent $1.75 million personal property tax reimbursement check from the state of Michigan to help pay for next year’s Church Street reconstruction project and expansion of the city’s snowmelt system.
The City Council earlier this month agreed with a staff recommendation to use the $1,751,053 reimbursement check for the two projects. Assistant City Manager Kevin Plockmeyer recommended that $1,070,000 be set aside for the Church Street project and $680,000 toward the installation of boilers inside the 17 E. Main Ave. mixed-used development.
“This is a check we do not budget for,” Plockmeyer said of the personal property tax reimbursement.
Since 2017, the city has received about $12 million in such reimbursements that were established under a 2014 state law that reimburses local units of government for operating and debt millages, based on declines in personal property taxable values and eligible manufacturing personal property acquisition costs. That funding has gone toward projects such as snowmelt, improvements at Huizenga and Hoogland parks and the planned pedestrian bridge over Business Interstate 196, according to city documents.
For the Church Street project, the $1,070,000 contribution would reduce the amount of money needed from local street funds to complete the work. The project has an estimated cost of about $4 million, of which $1 million is being covered by a Michigan Department of Transportation grant, Plockmeyer said.
The city plans to use $1.2 million of leftover funds from the Taft Street construction project, now in progress, for the Church project, leaving only $730,000 that would have to come from the local street fund in the 2026-27 budget. The city normally sets aside $1.5 million in the street fund annually.
“It does give us a nice buffer in case the bids for Church Street come back more than what we expect,” Plockmeyer said.
The city is planning to extend the snowmelt system as part of the Church Street project, but the boiler capacity at this point is insufficient to support the expansion. Boilers will be installed in the 17 E. Main building to increase capacity to support snowmelt expansion. The city has secured $2 million in brownfield tax increment financing for the project, but the city won’t see disbursement of those funds until 2040, Plockmeyer said.
Plockmeyer recommended $680,000 go toward the 17 E. Main boiler project. That would be combined with $820,000 in surplus funds from the Main Avenue streetscape and snowmelt project that was completed last year. The city may bond to cover the remaining costs until it begins recouping the TIF revenues. The boiler project has an estimated cost of $2.6 million, but Plockmeyer said that final cost could eventually reach $3 million.
Councilman Jim Broersma praised the choice of projects for the reimbursement dollars.
“This is being fiscally responsibly. I really like it,” Broersma said.
The City Council will consider a budget amendment in the future to add in the reimbursement revenue as well as allocating the spending for Church Street and the 17 E. Main boilers.
Zeeland Record
The city of Zeeland plans to use most of a recent $1.75 million personal property tax reimbursement check from the state of Michigan to help pay for next year’s Church Street reconstruction project and expansion of the city’s snowmelt system.
The City Council earlier this month agreed with a staff recommendation to use the $1,751,053 reimbursement check for the two projects. Assistant City Manager Kevin Plockmeyer recommended that $1,070,000 be set aside for the Church Street project and $680,000 toward the installation of boilers inside the 17 E. Main Ave. mixed-used development.
“This is a check we do not budget for,” Plockmeyer said of the personal property tax reimbursement.
Since 2017, the city has received about $12 million in such reimbursements that were established under a 2014 state law that reimburses local units of government for operating and debt millages, based on declines in personal property taxable values and eligible manufacturing personal property acquisition costs. That funding has gone toward projects such as snowmelt, improvements at Huizenga and Hoogland parks and the planned pedestrian bridge over Business Interstate 196, according to city documents.
For the Church Street project, the $1,070,000 contribution would reduce the amount of money needed from local street funds to complete the work. The project has an estimated cost of about $4 million, of which $1 million is being covered by a Michigan Department of Transportation grant, Plockmeyer said.
The city plans to use $1.2 million of leftover funds from the Taft Street construction project, now in progress, for the Church project, leaving only $730,000 that would have to come from the local street fund in the 2026-27 budget. The city normally sets aside $1.5 million in the street fund annually.
“It does give us a nice buffer in case the bids for Church Street come back more than what we expect,” Plockmeyer said.
The city is planning to extend the snowmelt system as part of the Church Street project, but the boiler capacity at this point is insufficient to support the expansion. Boilers will be installed in the 17 E. Main building to increase capacity to support snowmelt expansion. The city has secured $2 million in brownfield tax increment financing for the project, but the city won’t see disbursement of those funds until 2040, Plockmeyer said.
Plockmeyer recommended $680,000 go toward the 17 E. Main boiler project. That would be combined with $820,000 in surplus funds from the Main Avenue streetscape and snowmelt project that was completed last year. The city may bond to cover the remaining costs until it begins recouping the TIF revenues. The boiler project has an estimated cost of $2.6 million, but Plockmeyer said that final cost could eventually reach $3 million.
Councilman Jim Broersma praised the choice of projects for the reimbursement dollars.
“This is being fiscally responsibly. I really like it,” Broersma said.
The City Council will consider a budget amendment in the future to add in the reimbursement revenue as well as allocating the spending for Church Street and the 17 E. Main boilers.
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