Higgins Lake Property Owners File Appeal of Special Assessment District Rolls Confirmation

A coalition of Higgins Lake property owners, led by the Higgins Lake Property Owners Association and joined by hundreds of individual residents and family trusts, has formally filed an appeal challenging the confirmation of special assessment district (SAD) tax rolls approved by the Roscommon County Board of Commissioners.

The appeal, filed in the Roscommon County Circuit Court, contests the boards’ recent decision to finalize the multi-million-dollar SAD rolls intended to fund long-term lake management projects. Appellants argue that the counties’ actions improperly burden property owners, violate statutory and constitutional protections, and disregard less intrusive alternatives.

“This case raises fundamental issues about fairness, due process, and the lawful limits of local government authority,” said attorney Philip L. Ellison of Outside Legal Counsel PLC, who represents the property owners. “Our clients are not opposed to caring for Higgins Lake — they are opposed to illegal and excessive taxation that targets lakefront families without adequate justification or procedural safeguards.”

The coalition of appellants includes the Higgins Lake Property Owners Association, local residents, and trustees of numerous family cottages and LLCs that have served generations of lake users. The appeal asserts that the counties’ approval process lacked transparency, overstated costs, and unfairly shifted financial obligations onto a narrow class of property owners, contrary to Michigan law.

The appeal will now move forward before Judge Robert W. Bennett in the Roscommon County Circuit Court. The outcome of this case may set significant precedent for how counties across Michigan impose and enforce lake-related assessments under Part 307 of the Natural Resources and Environmental Protection Act.