Quick Hits

February 21, 2012: Read the testimony before General Government Subcommittee of House Appropriations. Click here for full testimony in PDF format.

Latest News

As the citizens of Douglas and Saugatuck go about considering whether consolidation of the two governments of their small, adjoining cities makes sense, lots of arguments pro and con will be flying around. Heck, they already are! Some of these arguments involve "softer" issues like shared community values and the like, but others will center on seemingly hard numbers for government expenses. Let's look at how best to analyze these numbers.. Read more news here.

Dollars & Cents

Comparison of Annual Tax Payments (PDF)

Comparison of Annual Tri-Community Budgets (PDF)

Consolidation Savings Projections (PDF)

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Boundary Commission reports on questions from CGC meeting

When the Consolidated Government Committee filed 443 signatures calling for the boundary commission to start the process towards a vote on consolidating the three governments in the Saugatuck Douglas Community into one government, a number of misstatements on the process were issued by current and former government officials.

In response, the CGC invited the State Boundary Commission, which has sole jurisdiction over the process, to come to the community and hold an open meeting for resident's questions. That meeting was held January 24th at Saugatuck High School's media center.

Questions from residents were taken by the SBC staff members for response. The SBC responded to questions March 6 and they are provided in this PDF document.

The consolidation process as determined by the State Boundary Commission requires a formally drafted petition and an accurate boundary map taken from the tax descriptions of perimeter parcels. The cost of preparing these two documents is $19,100. Please help us defray this cost by making a donation through the PayPal button at left.

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