GREEN CHARTER TOWNSHIP— A Northern Michigan community, digging out from a budget shortfall township leaders said is related largely to legal fees.
Jason Kruse, the supervisor for Green Charter Township in Mecosta County said a lot of it is tied to cleaning house of the entire township board back in November of 2023.
The recall happened over concerns about the EV battery plant Gotion’s developing in the area.
“We are a small township, so we don’t require a whole lot of legal fees normally. And so, it’s been in the past has been pretty low, maybe $10,000, something like that.
Kruse said they are working on paying it down but knows it could take several years.
He said lawsuits were filed by Gotion and Internet Service Inc., also known as ISI who was leasing space in the township’s basement, as well as their normal legal expenses, have put them in the red by about $400,000.
“We had an Internet company in the building that raised a lot of questions with the township residents, “said Kruse.
Kruse said they were hit with a defamation case for discussing removing them from the township in board meetings.
“We have to talk as a board and rule as a board in order to make movements in the township. that’s how it works, “said Kruse.
The township won their lawsuit against ISI but Kruse said Gotion’s federal lawsuit claiming that the township is in breach of contract is still tied up in court.
“The development contract was never signed appropriately by the previous board. So instead of working with us, Gotion decided to sue a township that they wanted to work with,” said Kruse.
A U.S. District Court had granted Gotion an injunction back in May of 2024 stating that the township had to abide by the contract that was signed.
That case is still tied up until the U.S. 6th Circuit Court of Appeals makes a ruling.
Kruse said they just wanted to take a closer look at previous agreements made by the former Green Charter Township Board, and it snowballed.
“This lawsuit is nothing more than just a sort of harassment lawsuit to try to sink the township because Gotion didn’t get what they wanted. We have never, ever once hindered Gotion from doing their project, not through any legislation that we’ve passed. They’ve never submitted any paperwork to us to date,” said Kruse.
He said they have already paid back $75,000 out of their budget and Mecosta County also kicked about $193,000 for the legal expenses.
He said the township is on a payment plan with their lawyers and they are looking to see where they have unused funds in their budget, they can divert to help pay down their expenses.
“As we look forward to the future, we’re going to look at different ways in order to fund this and get this off of our budget. Clear books up,” said Kruse.