For Immediate Release:
January 14, 2013

Contact: Eric Lupher or
Jeffrey Guilfoyle
734.542.8001

New CRC Report Looks to Improve the Process for Village Disincorporations
For parts of 2011 and 2012, CRC worked with the residents of Onekama, a village and township in Manistee County on the shores of Lake Michigan, to investigate the possibility of disincorporating the village government. As the first community to use disincorporation provisions in the General Law Village Act that create a commission to investigate the changes that would result from merging with the township, Onekama discovered the benefits of this process and several weaknesses in the law’s provisions.
Although the Onekama voters voted not to merge their two governments by disincorporating the village, their experiences can be valuable for communities contemplating use of these provisions in the future. A new CRC Report, Lessons from the Proposed Merger of Onekama Village with Onekama Township, chronicles the experiences of the merger efforts and suggests several amendments to the General Law Village Act that could address the perceived weaknesses or simply improve the process.
The full report is available at no cost on the Citizens Research Council’s website, www.crcmich.org.
Founded in 1916, CRC works to improve government in Michigan. The organization provides factual, unbiased, independent information concerning significant issues of state and local government organization, policy, and finance. By delivery of this information to policymakers and citizens, CRC aims to ensure sound and rational public policy formation in Michigan. For more information, visit www.crcmich.org.