A referendum to increase the tax of University Apartments residents will be before the MSU community March 12-16.
Apartment leaseholders currently pay a $1.50 tax during spring and fall. The proposal will increase the tax to $3 for each semester, including summer semester. The apartments’ Council of Residents voted to approve the increase.
A referendum to raise per semester taxes for The State News to $5 and ASMSU, the undergraduate student government, to $16 also will appear on the ballot, but only leaseholders can vote on the apartment tax item.
Council of Residents President Jeremy Roark said the tax is geared to help residents. There are about 2,100 leaseholders in the University Apartments.
“It’s really hard to get anything done, but we have people who are really devoted to the idea of community improvement and they have stuck with it,” he said.
Roark said the tax could help with the apartments’ water problems. Roark said a water filter might be installed in the complexes with tax money.
He said University Housing has not supported previous proposed solutions to improve water quality in the apartments.
“The proposal I have given them now is a third and fourth possible solution,” he said. “If they don’t go for that and if we get the tax increase, I think we will do that ourselves.
“If Housing is not willing to deal with the issues being raised, I think we will be able to handle them on our own if we have the tax money”
Eduardo Olivo, area coordinator for the apartments, said the process ensures that residents have the opportunity to vote.
“It needs to be done,” he said. “And we need to give residents an opportunity to express their concerns on whether they want to be taxed.
“The more funding (the council) has, that is going to favorably impact the community in many different ways. They can channel those funds in a wider variety of program opportunities and therefore better the quality of life.
“Water quality has always been an issue in University Apartments and the council is doing their best to solve the situation. I am hoping that solutions will be found so this water quality situation can be solved.”
Cherry Lane Apartments resident Jerry White said he doesn’t mind the increase, and would like the money to improve the community. White said he wants programs like Safe Night Detroit, a program that allows neighbors to get together and discuss neighborhood issues.
“Everybody just stays to themselves (in the University Apartments),” he said. “In Detroit, everybody, the whole neighborhood, gets together and talks about what’s wrong with their community.”
