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MICHIGAN·DEMOCRA TS
TAKE THEIR PICK
SA TURDA Y Story and Caucu loe tion
on Page 3
25e
ORTH OF MA
DUSTRIAL PA.�K PLA
MILLER ST.
Benton Harbor officials
-like the proverbial city
slicker who m de his living
lling the Brooklyn Bridge
to touri t - will be mar­
keting property they don't
own, have no intere t in or
right to, and can't afford to
buy.
OVer 50· property own­
ers and residents of the
propo d orth of ain
area heard city manager
Elli itchell arch 9, tell
them the city can't afford bought out and relocated.
to buy them and relocate ow the city will clean
them, but will spend monex up the area by demolishing
to hire an individual and vacant, sub-standard build­
develop a brochure to sell ings; making grants or low­
potential developer on the interest loan vailable to
orth of ain industrial property owner for "health
park. and safety hazard" correc-
The city cannot afford tion.
to follow through with a ayor Wilce Cooke told
HU�fmanced study done the group that in ddition
in 1981, itch ell told the the city hope t move
area resident. Under that out four or five' re . dent
plan, re 'dents were to be at a time, s fund bee m
lotolso 10 II� lo� r
,
RtFORD S . .
. HAVE TO W A1T - Pr0p­
erty 0 IS in nOD
of the propoeed ortb of
1lld'I1IU1'1'ta1 Park heard
et"
available.
Reaction to the new
"methodology" of develop­
ing the 4] a re park was
mixed. Bu ine sman An­
thony amina said it sound­
ed "good." Homeowner Wil­
lie Horton said he didn't
like it. Horton said he ha
seen the number of Homes
in his neighborhood of
41 years dwindle from 250
to 50 homes during the 20
year the city has been
talking about developing an
indu trial park there.
Hiring the individual and
d molition activity will be­
gin in April, Mitchell said.
AT 0 AL PRESIDENT - Borten Canady, nat'GIIl":
president of Delta Sigma Theta sorority will ad
Twin Cities Ch pter, Saturday, h 17 during
group' observance of Founder' D y. Story on Pa- 4.
:F
5
z
ichigan Emergency Loan Board has
issued a Series of deadlines to Benton
Harbor city reminiscent of those issued
in 1981 and 1982.
Tony Presecan, staff coordinator for
the Michigan unicipal Finance Commis­
sion, said that city officials received the
requests while attending a March ] 2
meeting of th State Emergency Loan
Board. ..
The Board instructed the city to get
a better handle on its finances, Pre can
• said.
Ute city needs to kno where it cash
is, how much has been expended month
by month against what was budgeted
month by month, Presecan said. The city
has until May 31 to do it.
By June 30 the city must also have
revised its five year plan, the Board told
city official .
Last June when the city received a
half-million dollar loan from the Loa-n
Board, it had to ubmit a five-year plan
for increasing tax revenue.
At that June 1983 meeting, Loan
Board staff told the city they thought .
the projections were "too optim tic. "
City Manager Ellis Mitchell told th e Loan
Board, "I stand by my plan."
itchell must now revise that plan.
Additional busines departure and clo-
sings coupled with a lack of new econo­
mic development make .the city's pro­
jected tax revenue' growth till "unrealis­
tic," Presecan said.
City officials projected that the tax
base in the city ould gro � 25 percent
in the next five year. The Loan Board.
was told then by Ray Camp, Distnct
Supervisor for the State Tax Commi . on,
that he pattern of declining property
values in the city would continue "unless
a major tum around occurs."
Representing the 'city at the arch 12
meeting were Mitchell, Finance Director
Ricardo John nand ayor Wilce
I
\
Cooke .
The trio were at the Loan Board me t­
ing to clear the way to sell tax anticipa­
tion notes before e end of the fiscal
year on June 30. The city expects to
run short of cash.
The city was also trying to get th
interest amount on its three previou
Emergency Loan reduced, a Treasury
official said.
The city ill get an an wer on that
request within month. The city bore
rowed $4 0 000 in 1981 t 14.7 percen
jnterest; 800 000 in 1982 t 14.2 6
percent intere . and the $500,000 bor­
rowed "in 1983 at 9.968 percent
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