Dexter's Second Cityhood Petition Found 'Legally Insufficient'

The village of Dexter’s to become a city has suffered another setback involving its proposed boundaries.

On Thursday, the State Boundary Commission ruled that the village's petition was "legally insufficient." At issue is whether land in Webster Township, including Gordon Hall, can be included in the proposed boundary.

"Though both the Attorney General and boundary commission staff agreed that the village’s petition was legally sufficient, the four boundary commissioners present voted to find the petition legally insufficient," village officials said in an e-mail.

Dexter officials submitted their original petition to the state on Nov. 6, 2009, and were initially turned down because of what the State Boundary Commission determined to be an “insufficient legal description.”

This time around, village officials worked closely with the state before the second petition was submitted in December 2010, Assistant Village Manager Courtney Nicholls said in a previous interview.

According to the village’s City Study Committee report, advantages to cityhood would include:

• Not paying township taxes.
• Creating a centralized government for the city with all elections, tax payments, etc., within the city, instead of some elections at bordering townships.
• Different polling places for people in each township
• More recognition from a state and county level; villages are still considered part of townships, but cities are entities separate from townships.

Plans to pursue cityhood will be discussed in future Village Council meetings, officials said. The next Village Council meeting will take place at 7:30 p.m. Monday.