By Teddy Rydquist
Leader Staff Writer
Ever since the coronavirus (COVID-19) first moved to the forefront of the United States’ attention in mid-March, Americans have been forced to make adjustments to their lives; they have become accustomed to temporary new norms that would have seemed unthinkable before, such as wearing masks to go grocery shopping and high school athletic activities being postponed or outright canceled.
Fortunately, one thing that has not drastically changed is the strong financial standing of Addison Township.

“Our budget is not being dramatically affected,” said Treasurer Lori Fisher, who has served since 2012. “The largest contributor to our revenue is the state revenue sharing, we actually bring in more dollars in state revenue sharing than we do in tax dollars.”
Collecting a six-percent sales tax, the state of Michigan distributes this money among local governments, which can include the bimonthly payments in their revenue stream.
“It (the revenue sharing payments) typically fluctuates seasonally, anyway,” Fisher said. “Payments in December are higher, I guess because of seasonal shopping, so, our summer is always a little bit lower.
“It’s on the same pattern, off from where it was last year or two years ago, but not dramatically. As of right now, the state is saying about 11-percent cuts to those numbers but, you know, the economy, for some crazy reason, is still doing well.”
Addison Township’s most recent state revenue sharing payment, received on July 1, was approximately $75,000, the first time since May 2, 2019 the number dipped below $80,000.
For comparison’s sake, the July 3, 2019 payment was an even $80,000. Like Fisher said, down slightly, but not significantly.
“We’re very much in the black and we don’t expect the fluctuation of any of the revenue sharing to really cut in and hurt us,” she said. “If we were in the city, and we offered a lot more services and were much more dependent on those state dollars, we’d be looking at more cuts or being more cautious, but we don’t have a lot of funds coming in from the state or different programs, so, we’re not going to be as affected by it.”
Utilizing a fiscal year concluding on March 31 and dating back to 2016-17, Addison Township has experienced a steady growth in revenue.
Generating $1,211,738.23 in total revenue in 2016-17, that number increased to $1,236,389.19 in 2017-18. The township eclipsed $1.3 million in 2018-19, collecting $1,332,751.93, and cleared $1.35 million last year, totaling $1,361,565.35.
Thus far in the 2020-21 fiscal year, $327,465.65 has been recorded, as of August 14.
“In my opinion, we’re doing better than anticipated,” Fisher said of how Addison has fared over the last nearly six months.
“Everywhere I go, I see people out, and I’ve been over on the other side of the state, and it was busier than I’ve ever seen it. So, people are still spending money.
“I’m hearing a lot that some people are spending a lot more money than usual, and some people don’t have money to spend. The economy did not tank as we feared, two-to-three months ago, we were very fearful of a hard recession, and that has not happened.”
One industry faring, seemingly, very well is the real estate market, and Addison Township, headed by 12-year Supervisor Bruce Pearson, is currently seeing seismic growth in their home listings, too.
“Our property values are very high here, per capita, we’re very fortunate about that,” Fisher shared.
“Normally, the average price on our housing is about $450,000, which is much higher than our surrounding areas. Right now, our average listing price of houses for sale is $585,000.
“You can’t determine a whole lot just by looking at that number because it just depends on who happens to have their house for sale, but of the — I think it was 29 listings — that’s the average value.”
Now that is what you would call a seller’s market.
The Addison Township Board, which meets on the third Monday of each month at 6 p.m. unless otherwise noted, is next scheduled to convene on September 21. As always, these meetings are open to the public and provide a period for residents to raise questions or provide their input.

  addison township, Lori Fisher