Call them the bad old days, when political muscle could mold public policy to suit the needs of those with clout.
At least we can hope they're the bad old days.
The Michigan court of appeals recently upheld a 2007 Michigan Tax Tribunal ruling that the Centre Ice complex in East Bay Township is not a charitable organization and must be taxed as a commercial property.
Centre Ice had not paid taxes from the time it opened in 1997 to 2004, when East Bay officials, with the support of county Equalization Director Laurie Spencer, said the complex should be subject to tax.
When East Bay decided to change its status, Centre Ice appealed. In 2007 the Tax Tribunal sided with East Bay, and Centre Ice took the case to the court of appeals. The complex's attorney now wants to appeal to the state Supreme Court.
Since 2004 Centre Ice has paid about $420,000 in back taxes, interest and penalties and is now current.
That's the public record side of things, anyway. The rest of the story is where things got ugly.
In late 2004 and early 2005, when East Bay began questioning the double rink's tax status, members of the county board and a number of local business people -- including some who held a $1.8 million mortgage on the property -- began putting pressure on East Bay officials to back off their decision that Centre Ice should be taxed.
The county board huffed and puffed and threatened. The board wrote a letter supporting Centre ICE's campaign for tax exempt status. Board members attended public meetings in support of Centre Ice. The board voted unanimously to prevent Spencer from taking the case to the Michigan Tax Tribunal even though, as equalization director, she was the county's paid professional.
Right and wrong and the law didn't matter; this was political.
County Administrator Dennis Aloia went even further: "If she wants to stay employed, she's going to have to follow orders," he warned during a public meeting. Aloia last week denied he ever "threatened" Spencer and hung up the phone when pressed about what he said.
Spencer had no doubt what had happened. "It's an unbelievable relief for me," Spencer said of the appeals court ruling. "This has taken a toll on my health." All along, Spencer was the target of a blistering campaign of scorn and insults from Centre Ice supporters.
It was as ugly an episode of political muscle as the region has seen in a long, long time.
If not for Spencer and some stubborn East Bay officials, power politics would have won out and we wouldn't have learned a thing.
Related Story: Court: Centre ICE not tax-exempt
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