Ferndale Residents Hold 'Closed' Meeting to Discuss Summer Tax Bills

Sean House, the co-chair of the group, , which was against the , held a meeting on Wednesday night at Leonard Brothers, 701 Woodward Heights, to discuss Ferndale's summer tax bill.

House called for people to show up via a Facebook invite that you can view here.

As people filtered in, there was discussion of how high Ferndale taxes were, "cronyism" and how Ferndale didn't make the appropriate cuts before calling for a millage.

Ferndale resident Kay Watson said her taxes went up $181. "I thought they should have made more cuts," she said. "Government is never satisfied."

Resident Rob Huddleston said his taxes went up "about $200."

House's agenda for the evening, on top of the discussion of the summer tax bill, stated that the group would be recapping the May 3 election, discussion upcoming "tax increases," the general election on Nov. 1, plus "ideas for change in Ferndale."

House quickly went through the upcoming tax increases on the agenda. They included the potential , the and the four potential new that the Downtown Development Authority is looking to present to council.

One of the items on the agenda also pointed to forming a "citizens group."

The Ferndale Patch reporter asked if anyone in the room was going to run for Council. House said, "stick around and you'll find out."

Resident Brian Donovan asked why a reporter was present, referring to the Ferndale Patch reporter. "He's a resident and we have nothing to hide," House said.

However, shortly after that, House told the reporter that this meeting would be "closed" and asked the reporter to leave the room. The group is not a public body, and therefore is not subject to the open meetings act.

Stay tuned for more information about the Ferndale Citizens Meeting as it becomes available.