The center employees were represented
by the paper workers union which i believe merged with the steelworkers union some years ago.
The golf course employees are represented by the operating engineers.

If you check my financial disclosure statements on file with the county clerk you will see that the UAW gave me no money in my 2006 election campaign for county commissioner. In 2008, I ran unopposed.

leonard page

A couple of questions… What is the real estimated value of the property, and you say there are 150 employed… so are they represented by which trade union? A matter of curiosity.

Cheboygan County’s newly elected drain commissioner, Dennis Lennox, has just issued his latest press release entitled “UAW refuses to pay taxes on lavish lakeside resort“. As you may recall, Lennox campaigned for the drain commissioner job with lawn signs falsely implying that he was the incumbent- a violation of state law. His platform was based on a stated desire for low taxes and getting the state legislature to abolish what he calls the “do nothing” drain commissioner job which pays $600 a year.

Property assessment are made by each township on an annual basis and are subject to taxpayer challenge at a local board of review and then before a state tax tribunal. For almost 40 years, the UAW has run an education center for its members on the south side of Black Lake in Waverly Township. The Center has a first-rate public golf course with a great restaurant and accommodations for up to 250 members to attend weeklong education and training programs. The UAW Center employs over 150 locals, paying good wages and benefits and it operations have been almost self-sustaining. (The Center has its own fire department, security, road maintenance, waste treatment etc and no school-age children live at the Center). The Center has reportedly operated at a loss of about $23 million dollars over the past five years.

Historically, the UAW has been able to successfully challenge the Waverly Township assessment at the state tax tribunal level. In 2007, the UAW again challenged its assessment and the parties settled that matter that same year. The Lennox release falsely suggests that I represented the UAW in this matter and refused to make any effort to resolve it. However, I have not represented the UAW in any of these assessment disputes. (I retired from the UAW in 1999 and after two years in at the NLRB in Washington D.C., I settled here on family property in Grant Township.) When the 2007 assessment challenge was brought to my attention, I arranged for a meeting with the township board, the UAW Center Director, its tax attorney and a high level administrator from UAW Solidarity House in Detroit. I also offered to attend the meeting at the Center with the UAW providing lunch and tour of the facility. The Waverly Township Board declined this offer. (Neither county commissioners nor for that matter, drain commissioners, are involved in property tax assessment matters.)

Since this matter had been resolved by the Waverly Township Board and the UAW, why does the new drain commissioner regurgitate it now almost two years later? Every taxpayer has a right to appeal a tax assessment, particularly where there has been a past pattern of excessive assessments. The only issue in any assessment dispute is the appraised value of the property in contrast to other comparable properties. There is no discussion of this issue or of past tax tribunal decisions in the Lennox release. You would think a self-proclaimed advocate for low taxes would support any taxpayer’s right to appeal an improper assessment.

The UAW Reuther Center has been good for the community and its continued ownership should be encouraged. Rumors have circulated for years that the Center or at least the golf course are for sale. I hope the UAW realizes that most do not share Mr. Lennox‘s views. The UAW has maintained a beautiful, low impact resort operation which strives to preserves the property’s natural environment. The Center employees are locals earning a decent living and enjoying the benefits of union representation. Even though the Center is a seasonal employer, the UAW does NOT exercise its right to challenge unemployment benefits when it shuts down over the winter. The UAW Center attracts thousands of well-behaved visitors annually who spend their money in the local area. (Some even come back to vacation and retire here!) The facility has also been made available for many public meetings and the UAW has been a generous supporter of community events and programs. In contrast with some resorts, the UAW does not use foreign workers on temporary work visas. Nor has the UAW asked either the township or county for any taxpayer-funded subsidy despite the fact that the Center operations have apparently been a steady drain on the UAW’s declining resources.

Perhaps the new township board may wish to pursue a better relationship with the current property owner and one of the county’s largest and best paying employers. The drain commissioner’s attack on the UAW is stale, devoid of relevant facts, unprincipled, obviously beyond his expertise and unrelated to his duties.

Leonard Page