Group of Lansing Township residents want to be annexed into the city of Lansing

[DetroitMan]

It's not every day that you see residents of a township in Michigan wanting to be annexed by a city. Personally, I've always felt Lansing, Lansing Twp and E. Lansing should be merged into one city.
Group of Lansing Township residents want to be annexed into the city of Lansing

About 120 residents in the Groesbeck area of the township have asked that an annexation question be put on the November ballot. Lansing Mayor Andy Schor included draft language for an annexation ballot question in a packet of materials he forwarded to Lansing's City Council.

The residents want to have more security for the future and many are worried about the financial woes of Lansing Township, said John DeMarco, one of the organizers of the letter.

"Where will we be in five years? Ten years? Twenty years?" DeMarco said. "We decided to be a little proactive and see what happens. If the people of Lansing say, 'We don't want your problems,' we'll be no better or worse off."

He estimates about 2,200 people live in the area.

The township is struggling with debt, at least $31 million, or seven times the township's annual budget.

https://www.lansingstatejournal.com/...n/10129932002/

[deja vu]

Lansing Township is so eroded, I'm surprised it even exists at all anymore (a lot like where I live, in Kalamazoo Township). But the municipality took steps some years ago to prevent this very thing from happening by becoming a Charter Township, which affords some additional protections. Though annexation is still possible, I don't know the detailed nuances of how that all works and who all gets to vote on it.

This is an old article from 2017 -

Lansing Township avoiding further annexation of its land
By Hannah Holliday | Spartan News Room
April 20, 2017

The portion in question to be annexed is the northeast area -



Any idea why the township is in such terrible debt?

EDIT: did some quick googling. It looks like a lot of it is from commercial real estate investments that went south, specifically,

"The estate of developer Michael Eyde is suing Lansing Township for $13.8 million for unpaid debts related to The Heights at Eastwood." (pictured above)

What a weird thing for such a lightly populated township to go "all-in" on. The loss of automotive jobs from the region seems to also have been a factor. The sad thing is, the debt ultimately falls back on the taxpayers of the Township. And if some leave, it makes it even worse for those left behind -

Lansing Township backed The Heights at Eastwood. Now it's being sued over a $13.8 million debt.
Sarah Grimmer | Fox 47 News
April 25, 2022

This will be an interesting thing to follow to see where it goes. Like you said, municipal annexation is not a very common occurrence in Michigan these days.

[deja vu]

Found a little more info in a different article -

City of Lansing asked to annex eastside portion of Lansing Township
Todd Heywood | Lansing City Pulse
July 22, 2022

..Michigan law says that a portion of a charter township that is contiguous on all sides with a city or village may be annexed by that city or village "with the approval of a majority of the electors in that portion of a charter township"...

[hood]

FYI the piece that is being annexed is not the far northeast section on that map (that's Eastwood), it's the section just south of that.

If I'm not mistaken, the fact that this section of the township is entirely encircled by the city of Lansing makes the rules regarding annexation different. Not entirely sure though.

[deja vu]

Thanks for that correction. I must have mis-read.