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Printer-Friendly ModeObjections from Kochville Trustees unreasonable
October 23, 2006 —
Kochville Township's Board of Trustees recently criticized SVSU's decision to allocate funds that would allow for additional housing and renovations on existing housing. As reported by Paul White, township clerk Allan Bader and treasurer Randall Norton were among those who admonished the University's plan to create more living space. One of the concerns raised was that, as a state-subsidized institution, SVSU is not required to pay local taxes on any new buildings and, as a result, does not contribute directly via tax dollars to the Township's war chest.
This is true. But the indirect contributions the University makes to the Township are virtually innumerable. All one must do in order to understand the impact that SVSU has on Kochville is to examine the impact other universities have had on their surroundings. Take, for instance Michigan Tech University located in the "horn" of the Upper Peninsula, which serves as a beacon of civilization in the middle of a vast wilderness.
The same applies to SVSU with regards to Kochville Township: Pierce and Davis roads are still characterized overwhelmingly by massive stretches of countryside. Just a few blocks from Best Buy and the commerce in the Bay and Tittabawassee corridor, one can find what once dominated and, to this day, continues to partially define the Township: farmland.
Simply put, the University's economic contributions to Kochville Township dwarf the $8,000 in taxes that Bader et al. are concerned the Township will be cheated out of. Students work low-paying jobs in the Township and academic professionals purchase goods in the Township. The very fact that a state university exists in the Township attracts businesses. An enviable sum of money exchanges hands within the 18 square miles that is Kochville. It could hardly come as a surprise if SVSU issued a public rebuke, and that it was sung to the tune of "too bad."
Indeed, it is difficult to envision a scenario in which the University sees any reason whatsoever to cooperate with the Board to the extent that tax dollars somehow leak into the Township's coffers. When the Trustees cry sour grapes, one is hard-pressed to feel sorry for them, especially when the issue here is so surpassingly clear: there is a need for more housing.
Kochville Township overwhelmingly vetoed the expansion of the Cardinal Townhomes earlier this year. Proponents and residents must not have thought through the consequences of this referendum. Now the University must cope on its own and Kochville Township loses a golden opportunity to collect tax revenue.
Hopefully, the Trustees have already realized that this is not something they cannot justifiably object to. The fact that private capital was not used to develop housing does not mean the University should be forced to turn down students looking for housing.