Baroda residents to vote on whether to dissolve village government

BARODA, Mich. -- Baroda village residents will decide in the November midterm election whether to dissolve their village government and become part of Baroda Township.  

Supporters of disincorporation say the move could help lower property taxes. However, Dr. Erika Rosebrook with Michigan State University says village residents typically pay more because they receive additional services.  

"Folks who reside in villages usually do pay a little bit more," she says.  

"They have an additional property tax that they use to pay for those additional services that they get, but the other residents at the townships don't get."   

Rosebrook says Baroda is part of a growing trend of villages reconsidering whether their current form of government still meets their needs.  

If voters approve of disincorporation, Baroda will lose its separate municipal government, including its village council. Assets owned by the village would also transfer to the township, according to Dr. Rosebrook.  

However, taxes will not directly go down for village residents.  

"That would be up to the township and how they make their choices about governance and budgeting when they have the assets of the city," Rosebrook says.  

"So, if there were streets that were the village's property to maintain, then those would become the townships to maintain so they'd have to find a way to pay for those things."

Residents will have the opportunity to decide the village's future when they head to the polls next week.