EAST LANSING, Mich. – The May 5, 2015 Special Statewide Election ballot language for the City of East Lansing’s proposed land sale charter amendment has been approved by the Michigan Governor’s Office with a clarification made by the Michigan Attorney General’s Office regarding the sale of park land and cemeteries.
Based on a decision of the Michigan Supreme Court, the Attorney General’s Office stated in a letter dated March 10, 2015, that the City of East Lansing’s charter requirement of a 3/5 voter approval for the sale of park land and cemeteries was automatically amended to a simple majority vote when the Home Rule City Act was changed in 1966. This means that, according to the Attorney General’s Office, the City currently has the authority to sell park land with a simple majority vote and that the ballot proposal, if approved, will have no new impact on the sale of park land.
The Attorney General’s Office felt that voters should be aware that the ballot proposal, if approved, will only impact other City-owned real property (excluding park land and cemeteries). It will change the 3/5 majority vote to a simple majority vote in line with the Home Rule City Act and will add an annual inflation adjustment to the current $4 per capita limitation, which will be tied to the consumer price index. The exact language that will be placed on the May 5, 2015 Special Statewide Election ballot is as follows:
“Shall Section 4.8 of the East Lansing Charter be amended to change the requirement for voter approval to sell certain real property from a three fifths (3/5) majority vote of the electors to a simple majority vote of the electors and add an annual inflation adjustment, tied to the consumer price index, to the current four dollar ($4) per capital dollar limitation to sell real property?”