1 THE MICHIGAN DAILY
)CAL CHAPTERS:,
City To Collect 'Old' Tax
!i
By MALINDA BERRY
For more than 50 years, Ann
Arbor officials have failed to levy
the state property tax against lo-
cal fraternity and sorority chap-
ters-but they hope to start this
-year.
State tax la* since 1908 has
required that all property except
charitable, scientific and educa-
tional institutions other than fra-
ternities and social organizations,
shall be subject to taxing bylocal
government.
"Actually it is written into the
law that fraternities and sorori-
ties are exempt from the exemp-
tion," City Assessor Howard Led-
better said.
Explains Laxity
"The only explanation for the
city's laxity in pressing the tax,
is the political pressures that
were brought to bear on previous
assessors, and are being brought
to bear on me.
"It seems to me that in no one's
interpretation could they legiti-
mately be exempt," Ledbetter said.
The Alumni Panhellenic Coun-
cil has hired a lawyer to look
into the possibilities of defeating
the city's attempt to tax the
groups.
"The most obvious way the fra-
ternities and sororities can hope
to beat this is by trying to have a
specific exemption written onto
the books in Lansing. Actually,
they can do nothing until the
Legislature convenes, making pos-
sible the passage of a new law,"
Ledbetter said.
States Reasons
"The reason we're even both-
Eight Michigan Cities Map
Plans To Revive Downtown
Like Ann Arbor, which is ex-
periencing a business slump in its
downtown area, seven other Mich-
igan cities have plans for a down-
town renewal: Flint, Bay City,
Saginaw, Kalamazoo, Grand Rap-
ids, and Jackson.
Flint's 'Mid-City Center' plan
calls for construction of a three-
block concourse, or mall, that
would include several service
buildings, street rerouting, the
main shopping street rebuilt, and
new parking lots.
The project would be largely
privately financed.
Surrounded by Centers
Grand Rapids, ringed -by six
huge shopping centers, has plans
for' a multi-millioii dollar down-
town area. City planners see lack
of parking among the reasons 'for
downtown trouble.
Saginaw, saddled with some 27
"economic' spooks,"' vacant; stores
in the main shopping area, has
initiated a downtown renewal ef-
fort under a non-profit corpora-
tion capitalized at $250,000.
Both Saginaw and Grand Rap-
ids find a need: for downtown
merchants to "dress up their
stores."
Rising Overhead
Bay City, which has no outly-
ing shopping centers, still has
some 20 "spooks," all victims of
rising overhead costs. But $5 mil-
lion has already been invested
downtown, and new off-street
parking should enhance the down-
town district again.
Muskegon has already launched
a major rejuvination program.
City planners have mapped a
"skyline route', to funnel traffic
downtown and are working out a
complete traffic loop there to
make maneuvering cars and park-
ing easy.
With a new shopping center hot
on their heels, Jackson has also
taken to the loop method, com-
plete with one-way streets, and is
sinking $3 million into downtown
renewal.
'Kalamazoo, a pioneer in down-
town renewal, with their mall, a
first in the state, only two .'ears
old, has a master plan for devel-
opment over several years. It in-
cludes more parking, a multi-mil-
lion dollar business traffic loop,
and private capital expansion.'
For mer 'U' OG
For Steaing JV
A former security guard and
University employe, Edward C.
Kazulewski, was sentenced to a 21-
month prison term for thefts from
the University amounting to'
$24,000.
The arrest ended 18 months of
thefts which ranged from boxes
of floor tile to various electrical
equipment. Kazulewski said he had
no plans for using the articles
stored in his home.
Kazulewski had been a night
guard for the private police agency
which has a contract for the
protection of University buildings.
He also worked'. as a chef and
caretaker at South Quadrangle.,
The 25 page list of articles mis-
ering to, push this tax since it is
causing so much trouble is that it
is our job to see that all proper-
ty bears its fair share of the
taxes. Actually the amount which
the city would receive would be
negligible when considering the
entire amount of taxes collected,"
he continued.
The money would be given to
the city and county even though
the tax comes under a state law.
Because the dormitories and
other University buildings are
owned by the state they aren't
subject to the law.
A personal property tax cannot.
be levied on state owned build-
ings. One way the fraternities
and sororities could get around
this is to deed their property to
the University, then they would:
be state owned and there would
be no question.
Assess Tax
The amount would not neces-
sarily be negligible to the indi-
vidual fraternity or sorority. The
money would be based on an as-
sessment of the furnishings of a
specific house. The main variant
would be the question of age since
depreciation and . deterioration
would be taken into consideration.
For example, on an assessment of
$10,000 worth of new furnishings,
the 'amount paid annually would
be $200. On older furniture it
would be considerably less.
The actual deadline for the pay-
ment of the tax is December 31,
1961, however, since the groups
-have not been paying the tax for
50 years the city assessor's office
is granting them a grace period
until December 31, 1962. This
would give them time to have the
Legislature act on any possible
proposal for amendments to the
tax law before the. deadline.
ard Sentenced
hie on Duty
sed by the University included 400
pounds of sugar, furnace filters,
carpenter's tool's, photographic
equipment, 'and weight-lifting
equipment taken from the Uni-
versity High School Gymnasium.
Other thefts included a wash-
ing machine, a chain hoist, a
hydraulic garage jack, 38 drapery
panels, a mattress, two tuxedos
and furance filters.
Security guards are given keys
to University buildings which must
be turned in when the guard goes
off duty. Officials explained that
Kazulewski had evidently stolen
the items while on duty and carted
them' to his home, perhaps with
an accomplice.
COMIN' FROM BOSTON-A man of 'many talents, Boston Pops
Orchestra Conductor Arthur Fiedler will tear into Detroit's
Masonic Auditorium for a one-night stand with his world-famous
'light' orchestra. This is but one stop on their annual tour of'
the country.
Masonic Bill To Offer
Boston Pops Orchestra
ii
rI
The Masonic Auditorium's An-
nual Concert Series will open
Oct. 13 with the appearance of
the New York City Ballet, under
the direction of George Balan-
chine.
"The Mazowsze Dance Company,
Polish equivalent of Russia's Moi-
seyev Dancers, will be presented
Nov. 3. The company features
about 100 singers, dancers, and
musicians.
The piano team of Pierre Lubo-
shutz and Genia Nemenoff will
return to the Auditorium on Dec.,
16.
Zino Francescatti, one of the
world's foremost violinists, will be
presented Jan. 12, and soprano
Mary Costa will appear in her De-
troit debut Feb. 2.
The Boston "Pops" Orchestra,
conducted by Arthur Fiedler, is
scheduled for Feb. 17, and pianist
Artur Rubinstein will be present-
ed March 23.
WSU Theatre...
The Wayne State University
Theatre will open its thirty-sec-
ond season with the Detroit pre-
miere of Anton Chekhov's recent-
ly discovered farce "A Country
Scandal." The play, a comedy of
a verbose, philosophical Don Juan
in reverse, will be presented Oct.
21-22, and 26-28, under the direc-
tion of Gary M. Witt.
The annual Shakespeare pro-
duction, December 1-2 and 7-9,
turns from comedy to tragedy,
featuring "King Lear," one of
Shakespeare's most monumental
works. Leonard Leone, head of the
theatre, will direct.
T h e theatre,'s international'
touring company will present five
performances of "Where's Char-
ley?", Jan. 5-6 and 11-13. This
production of Frank Loesser and
George Abbott's musical version of
"Charley's Aunt" is the main
work in a touring repertory which
See WSU, Page 18
L
i
FOR RESEARCH:
Industries, Universities Use
'U' Ford Nuclear Reactor
The University's one megawatt
Ford Nuclear Reactor was used by
five industrial organizations and
Wayne and Michigan State Uni-
versities during the past fiscal'
year.
Research groups from the uni-
versities and industries used the
reactor for time segments from
two seconds to 3,447 hours. The
University 'used the reactor for
some 5,300 hours of the 8,900 ex-
periment hours in which the re-
actor operated. It was used by
various departments.
Industrial organizations using
reactor time were Bendix Systems
Division in Ann Arbor, General.
Motors Research Institute in
Lansing, Consumers Power Co.,
Anaconda Copper and Ford Sci-
entific Laboratory.
The reactor is connected with
the 'Michigan Memorial-Phoeix
Project. The statistics on its use
were reported to President Har-
lan Hatcher in the Project's an-
nual report to the president.
PAPER-BOUND
BOOKS
Huge stock for all classes
PROMPT SERVICE.
On Special Orders
OVERBECK'S
BOOKSTORE
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THE
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SHOP
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Come in and see our large selection of fine
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