SPARTA, Mich. — A judge has dismissed a lawsuit filed by the village of Sparta against Sparta Township over a typographical error involving a library millage. The village says the outcome is a win for everyone involved.
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“So, the good news is for the community, it's been resolved in what's probably the best possible way, which is that the millage can stay in place, and there's a cap of the .2375 mills,” Sparta Village Manager Jim Lower said.
Sparta Township also expressed relief over the outcome.
“I think the reaction is one of certainly relief,” Sparta Township attorney Michael Homier said.
“More relief for the library itself that it gets to maintain its funding and can restore those programs that it was forced to reduce during this litigation.”
Circuit Court Judge Christina Mims agreed with the township and dismissed the lawsuit. The judge said the township inadvertently left out the word “not” and that the omission did not change the meaning of the intended ballot language.
"The township consistently said that yes, there was a typographical error. They never hid from it. They, in fact, passed a subsequent resolution. It was indicated, as the court noted in the opinion, that it was a renewal. It could never exceed 0.2375 because of the Headlee rollback,” Homier said.
Lower said the village was never against the library and instead wanted to protect the community against an uncapped millage.
“At the end of the day, what we were most comfortable with was having a third-party independent come in and take a look at it and review it, and that's all this was. And we're satisfied with the result.”
Homier said the township spent less than $10,000 defending the lawsuit, while the village said its legal fees were $50,000.
When asked whether filing the lawsuit was worth it, Lower said:
“I wish we didn't have to, right? Like I think a lot of people wish we didn't have to. But why did we have to? The township messed up the language, and the village really wanted to create certainty for the community on whether or not it was going to be capped.”
Homier said that now that the lawsuit has been dismissed, the library will soon restore programs and hours.
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