The Saline Reporter
A Heritage Newspaper
Weekly Publication
The buck stops where?
By Sean Dalton, Heritage Newspapers
PUBLISHED: January 31, 2008
A bill at the state level is making plenty of noise, not because it might someday become law, but more because of the bigger ramifications it could have on government agencies, especially townships and counties.
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A bill now being considered by state lawmakers would shift several essential services from township control to county responsibility, effecting some 55 percent of Washtenaw County's 351,232 residents currently living in townships.
One piece of legislation included in the bill would force drastic changes in the responsibilities of a township, including turning over local elections to the county.
House Bill No. 4780, or the Township Services Consolidation Act, would automatically effect 16 of Washtenaw County's 20 townships — with the other four (Pittsfield, Scio, Superior and Ypsilanti) needing evaluation of other criteria to determine whether they are subject as well.
State Rep. Paul Condino, D-35th District, is the architect of the bill. And while even he doesn't expect it to ever become law, it's the intent of the bill that is important and the reason he introduced it in the first place.
Condino said his sponsorship of the bill, along with co-sponsor state Rep. Virgil Smith, D-7th District, was a strategic move at the request of Speaker of the House Andy Dillon, D-17th District, to get the ball rolling on consolidation talks.
"There was no feeling to move these bills, but to start the debate," Condino said. "And boy did it work.
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