Menominee County’s investment funds generate over $1 million

MENOMINEE, MICH. – Menominee County, Mich., is making money by having money to invest, according to an annual financial report presented at the Nov. 12 county board meeting. However, the county also was home to 1,997 delinquent tax properties, including two foreclosures and 225 parcels forfeited, according to County Treasurer Barbara Parrett.

For the county’s entire investment portfolio of $26.2 million, it received interest earned on investments of about $1.1 million year to date, according to information Parrett presented to commissioners at the meeting. The county earned about $760,000 in interest just on general-fund investments in fiscal year 2024, more than double its five-year average of $353,000, she said.

In her presentation, Parrett said the county’s $4.9 million in pooled investment funds earned an average rate of return of 5.2%, while about $7.4 million in checking account funds had an average rate of return of 3.5%, and about $9.2 million invested in certificates of deposit and municipal bonds earned about the same percentage as the checking accounts, which were boosted by an environment of higher interest rates.

While inflation might have played a role in the higher investment returns, it also has made it more difficult for some people to keep up with expenses. Parrett reminded county residents to pay their property tax bills promptly to avoid having interest and an administrative fee tacked on to them.

The county maintained about $6.3 million in a delinquent tax revolving fund as of Sept. 30, 2024, up from $6.1 million a year earlier. It also has about $1.3 million in a foreclosure fund, up from about $1.2 million a year earlier, according to information presented.

When a property owner is delinquent in paying a property tax bill, the county will cover the taxes temporarily while charging interest to the delinquent taxpayer. “We pay each of the taxing authorities. We collect the money, make the taxing units whole, so the interest that accrues on the delinquent tax the county keeps for this purpose,” Parrett said.

“After one full year of delinquency, it goes into forfeiture and that’s when the interest increases per month,” Parrett said. A 4% administrative fee is assessed. The county keeps a surplus of $2.7 million on hand to pay out to the taxing authorities to make them whole while it waits for the delinquent payments, she said. “The interest will accrue each month,” she said, at a rate of about 1% to 1.5% per month.

“If they go into forfeiture on March 1, and in July they pay, they’re paid and they come out of forfeiture,” she said.

Parrett encouraged residents uncertain about whether they’ve paid their property taxes in full to check the website B&AOnline.com, where property tax data is available for most townships and tax payments can be made.

The county saw its revenues from delinquent-tax properties rise to $157,369 in 2024 from $135,939 the prior year, according to county documents.

At the same meeting, the commissioners approved an amended $36.6 million Apportionment Report for 2024. The total tax revenue for the county rose from $35.5 million in the original report due to several referendums that passed Nov. 5, pushing up the millage rates, said Equalization Director Kandance Whitehouse.

She said her office visited over 1,000 parcels this summer, completed over 2,100 sketches and took over 10,000 photographs to ensure property descriptions were up to date, especially on improved properties.

Whitehouse said she sent postcards to property owners notifying them she would be doing site visits on a certain date. If no one was home when she visited, she left a door hanger message for them, she said. This method proved to be an improvement from prior years, when some people complained about unscheduled visits, she said.

“I’ll keep sending the postcards every year because they’re expecting us to come then. It’s worked very well,” she said.

Whitehouse said the 2024 apportionment report she presented in October needed to be revised as five municipalities asked voters to approve millage referendums Nov. 5 as well as the Intermediate School District referendum, which passed.

The total tax revenue for 2024, includes apportionments for the county, school districts and the various townships, cities and villages. The local school districts account about 39% of the total, while the Intermediate School Districts is expected to receive about 9%, up from about 6% in the original apportionment report due to the referendum.

Various county government agencies combined are set to receive 32% of the total, or $11.9 million, with $7.0 million allocated to the county administration, $1.8 million to the road patrol, $1.5 million to the road commission for repairs and maintenance, $618,339 for 911 services, $593,517 for senior citizen services and $371,000 for library. The various municipalities combined are set to receive 20% of the total amount, or a total of $7.3 million.

In the City of Menominee, which has the largest population in the county, total tax revenue of $13.2 million is expected to be collected from property taxes, including about $5.6 million for city government and about $1.8 million for the county government. Non-homestead residents are billed 18 mills for education, generating $1.97 million, while homestead residents are billed 6 mills for education, generating $1.5 million.

In other action items Oct. 22, the Menominee County commissioners appointed Glenn Sartorelli to fill a temporary spot on the Northpoint Board of Directors until March 31.

They approved a quote to purchase two 2025 Chevrolet Tahoe police vehicles for about $54,000 each from Berger Chevrolet through the MiDeal Program.
They accepted a five-year lease agreement with Jackie Axlen to operate the Concession Stand at Shakey Lakes County Park, with the rent increasing to $1,000 annually from $650. The lease allows the concession to sell food, refreshments and camping supplies and to operate a pleasure boat livery service in the county park located at N-8390 County Park Road in Stephenson, Michigan.

The commissioners allocated $2,500 from the park fund balance for the West Shore Fishing Museum’s building project and $1,800 to a Mason Park project to create a green space next to the pavilion. County Board Chair Larry Phelps said he has $3,000 in donations for the green space project.

They approved about $18,300 for construction administration services for the Mead & Hunt Project to comply with a new Federal Aviation Administration rule requiring aerial imagery for the runway project at the Menominee Regional Airport. The original amount approved for the project was $418,700.

They approved $66,700 for the Menominee County Jail HVAC project and $40,000 for roofing for the airport.

The County Board is skipping its second November meeting due to Thanksgiving and will meet next at 5 p.m. Tuesday, Dec. 3 in Courtroom B of the Menominee County Courthouse, 839 10th Ave. in Menominee.