Special Assessment Update • October 2, 2026
City Manager Recommends Withdrawal of Both Ludington Special Assessments
The Ludington City Council has been called to a special meeting Monday to consider withdrawing both the proposed Street Lighting and Public Safety special assessments and concluding the current assessment processes.
Ludington City Hall Municipal Building
400 S. Harrison St., Ludington, Michigan
What the City has announced
According to the official Notice of Special City Council Meeting, City Council will consider three matters recommended by City Manager Kaitlyn Aldrich:
- Adoption of resolutions withdrawing the proposed Street Lighting Special Assessment.
- Adoption of resolutions withdrawing the proposed Public Safety Special Assessment and concluding the current assessment processes.
- Adoption of a third resolution directing the City Manager, in the case of a budget deficit, to prepare a list of cost reductions.
This is a significant change in the process
The announcement comes only days after the September 28 public hearings, when Council took action allowing both special-assessment proceedings to continue toward preparation of assessment rolls.
Council is now being asked to withdraw both proposals and conclude those current assessment processes.
We are obtaining and reviewing the actual October 5 resolutions and supporting materials so they can be compared directly with the September 28 hearing record.
One phrase deserves careful attention
The City’s notice says the third proposed resolution would direct the City Manager:
We will wait for the actual resolution and Monday’s discussion before interpreting what the City means by that language.
The City’s previously adopted financial documents already contain projections involving future General Fund use of fund balance. The relationship between those earlier projections and the new cost-reduction proposal remains a question for the documentary record.
This notice does not establish why the City Manager recommended withdrawing the assessments.
We therefore are not claiming that PA 33, the petition effort, public objections, any particular financial finding, or any other single event caused the recommendation.
If City officials explain the reason in the October 5 materials or during Monday’s meeting, we will report what they say and compare it with the existing record.
For property owners asking about the PA 33 petition
Please keep completed petition sheets and petition records.
Do not discard completed sheets simply because withdrawal has been recommended.
Council has not yet acted on the withdrawal resolutions. We will update property owners and petition collectors after Monday’s meeting and after the actual resolutions have been reviewed.
The financial investigation continues
Withdrawal of the proposed assessments would resolve the current assessment proceedings if Council adopts the resolutions. It would not, by itself, answer the underlying financial questions that led to the proposals.
Our documentary review will therefore continue separately on the General Fund projections, the projected 2027 fund-balance draw, employee compensation and personnel costs, Cartier Park transactions, Municipal Marina capital and cash activity, interfund balances, and the financial analysis presented to Council.
Those issues will continue to be reconstructed from City budgets, trial balances, audits, meeting records, FOIA responses and other primary-source records.
Where things stand tonight
The City Manager is recommending withdrawal of both proposed special assessments. Council has not yet voted. The special meeting is Monday, October 5 at 5:00 p.m. at Ludington City Hall.
Ludington Public Safety Special Assessment
PA 33 Landowner Petition Kit
Information, signature collection, parcel verification and submission materials concerning MCL 41.801(3).
What is this petition?
Public Act 33 of 1951 contains a separate landowner petition provision concerning a public-safety special assessment. MCL 41.801(3) provides for submission of the special-assessment question to the electors when the statutory landowner threshold is satisfied.
The statutory language refers to owners of 10% of the land to be made into the special assessment district. For that reason, this effort is not simply counting signatures. Property ownership, parcel information and land area must be verified.
Why was this kit prepared?
During the September 28, 2026 Ludington City Council meeting, Public Act 33 was discussed as authority for the proposed Public Safety Special Assessment, including its landowner petition provision.
This kit was assembled so property owners and volunteers can use a consistent petition form, collect the information needed to verify properties, record unanswered questions, calculate the land represented by verified petition parcels, and preserve a clear submission record.
What’s in the kit?
- Quick Start guide
- Signature collection guidance
- Questions From Property Owners worksheet
- PA 33 landowner petition
- Petition continuation sheets
- Parcel Verification Worksheet
- 10% of Land Calculation Worksheet
- Petition transmittal materials
- Submission Receipt & Record Copy
- Clean reference copy of MCL 41.801
Before collecting signatures
Please read the Quick Start and collector instructions first. Collectors should not guess about ownership, acreage, petition timing, or whether a particular signature qualifies.
If a property owner asks a question you cannot answer, record the question rather than guessing. Ownership, parcel and land-area information can be verified before the petition calculation is made.
What signing does — and does not — mean
Signing asks that the Public Safety Special Assessment question be submitted to the electors pursuant to the PA 33 petition provision if the applicable statutory requirements are satisfied.
Signing should not be represented as a guarantee that the assessment will stop, that an election will necessarily occur, or that any legal question concerning the proceeding has already been decided.
The petition is also separate from the September 28 Chapter 42 district/necessity objection process and from objections that may be available concerning the later special-assessment roll.