Michigan legislative action thread
Posted on 05/13/2015 9:21:39 AM PDT by cripplecreek
JACKSON, MI – Jackson County Circuit Court Judge John McBain has been known to unload a healthy dose of candor when entering judgments.
Anyone from a convicted murderer to a local politician can get caught in the judge's verbal volley. In the case of the city's illegal stormwater tax hearing on Tuesday, May 12, it was the latter.
City leaders are required to repay their illegally collected stormwater fees by June 26 or face a $1,000-per-day fine, McBain ruled with fiery contempt.
After creating the fee in 2011, a Michigan Court of Appeals' decision ruled the fee unconstitutional two years later. In August 2013, a class action lawsuit was filed against the city, asking everyone who paid be refunded.
Below are some of the best quips from McBain during the city's ongoing legal "debacle," as the judge himself has called it.
"Well, that's not the way it's going to happen." – McBain on the city's attempts to justify refunding businesses and residents their stormwater tax by 2018. "The city has hundreds of thousands of dollars in legal fees ... and now they have the gall to suggest that poor citizens, poor non-profits should have to sit back until 2018," he started.
"It's a sad, sad day when the city can't get their hands on $450,000 after illegally taxing its citizens." – McBain, after laying into city officials and their lawyers, finished on this grave note before taking a recess.
"Unless they want to go to the Court of Appeals and pay even more money in legal fees..." – The judge after entering his ruling requiring the city refund the fees in 45 days explained they could appeal, "and try to convince the court a third time the folly of their actions."
"Apparently you've never seen federal judges at work." – After Soni Mithani, the city's lawyer from Miller Canfield, suggested McBain wasn't prepared to analyze "the city's financial situation."
"Are you going to pay your lawyers back in three years?" – McBain had this sarcastic question for city officials, who have paid more than $500,000 in legal fees since 2011 from ongoing lawsuits.
Basically a few years back the EPA suggested that the city could tax businesses and people who owned paved areas for rain falling on that asphalt. The city government just couldn't resist a chance to seize more money.
Naturally the people sued and eventually won. Now the city says they can't pay the money back because they spent it defending themselves from the lawsuit.
So John McBain is John McCain’s Conservative Double from Opposite Earth? (LOL)
We can’t pay back what we stole.
We spent it all defending ourselves against your lawsuit.
> “This is a local issue but one I suspect is going on across the country.”
It is not here yet, but it is being discussed. BTW, thank Richard Nixon for that. The Clean Water Act is what is requiring that now.
The EPA appealed to the greed of the city council. They simply suggested it and told the city that they could use the money however they wished.
What really stirred things up is the fact that the county owns several lots around town that they use and ended up being the primary target of the tax.
This must be the same EPA that decided that dust from unpaved roads is air pollution and needs to be regulated and fined.
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