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October 30, 2009

Court: Centre ICE not tax-exempt

By ART BUKOWSKI

TRAVERSE CITY -- Centre ICE Arena should not be classified as a tax-exempt operation, a state appeals court decided, but a contentions, years-long battle over the facility's status may not be over.

A decision released Friday upheld a Michigan Tax Tribunal ruling that the East Bay Township mixed-use ice arena should be classified and taxed as a commercial property.

Local officials improperly listed Centre ICE as tax-exempt from its opening in 1997 until 2004, when it was added to East Bay's tax rolls after Grand Traverse County conducted an audit of exempt properties.

Involved Citizens Enterprises Inc., the group that owns and operates the arena, appealed to the state after the tax tribunal in 2007 ordered the group to pay hundreds of thousands of dollars in back taxes.

"I'm happy it turned out the way it did. It just kind of confirms what my beliefs were after reading through all the (tax tribunal) documents," East Bay Township Supervisor Glen Lile said. "Hopefully, we can put it behind us and go on."

Centre ICE paid roughly $420,000 in taxes since being added to the tax rolls in 2004, including interest and penalties, Grand Traverse County Treasurer Bill Rokos said. The group began paying the taxes before appealing to the state in April 2008 and has caught up to its tax obligation, Rokos said.

Tom Pezzetti Jr., an attorney for Involved Citizens Enterprises, said he will recommend the group appeal to the Michigan Supreme Court. The court of appeals ruling misapplies the law, Pezzetti contends.

"We still think (Centre ICE) qualifies as tax-exempt," he said. "If you follow the court of appeals decision ... it's practically impossible to have a tax-exempt organization in the state."

Centre ICE Executive Director Terry Marchand couldn't be reached for comment, and Involved Citizens Enterprises President Dennis Phillips didn't respond for a request for comment made through Pezzetti.

Centre ICE officials and supporters lashed out at Grand Traverse County Equalization Director Laurie Spencer after she encouraged East Bay Township to put the rink on the tax rolls.

And County Administrator Dennis Aloia threatened to fire Spencer for her stance after Centre ICE officials applied pressure on the county board.

Considering local officials' "tremendous pressure" on Spencer to back down, the court of appeals ruling offered a measure of vindication.

"It's an unbelievable relief for me," Spencer said. "This has taken a toll on my health."

Aloia said he hadn't yet seen the appeals court ruling and couldn't comment.

"Since I haven't read it, I can't really speak to it specifically," he said.

Aloia said he "never threatened" to fire Spencer and hung up the phone when a Record-Eagle reporter pressed for further comment.

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