04/29/2026
Attn: Bear Creek Township and Emmet County taxpayers/residents!
The township is considering a Brownfield TIF (Tax Increment Financing) for a huge apartment complex south of Petoskey. The property is not blighted/contaminated as a usual Brownfield would work. Rather, this TIF is allowed for housing developments, signed into effect 2023 by Michigan (Public Act 90). Before you get excited about more housing consider this:
-Only 20% of the apartments will be included in the AMI (Average Median Income) allowance.
-The other 80% will still be MARKET RATE housing! How high can the price of an apartment go?
-The developer is asking for this TIF to offset costs to build the project. Yet this is a partnership between 2 companies with huge revenue! By the way, neither is from our local area-they are located downstate.
-The developer wants $15 million in tax incentive and the bottom line: this will take tax revenue away from the township while the developer collects profit AND gets reimbursement for property taxes paid!
-This will last for up to 30 years!
-So, while the development can house up to, or over, 500 people, the township will collect only a very small fraction of the taxes for 30 years. This impacts services (library, fire, EMS, roads, parks and recreation, sheriff, schools). 500 additional people, and the rest of us, need these services yet where are the taxes coming from while they are being diverted from the property and profits go into the pocket of the developer?
-Could this gap be filled by raising property taxes-our property taxes?
-The township has never approved this type of tax incentive and board members are admitting they need to get more information. Do you trust they will make the right decision? To last for 30 years? And worth $15 million dollars? And ensure they are looking out for the interests of property owners?
This is public tax dollars helping to finance a private development.
