Township Attorney Statement to Village Press Release 10/22/2026

Court Ruling Dismisses Lawsuit. The Township Declares Victory for the Library!

Sparta Township Statement Regarding the Library Millage Ruling
The Village of Sparta calls its library millage lawsuit a victory for taxpayers. It was not. It was an ill-conceived attempt to overturn a lawful election, paid for with more than $50,000 in taxpayer money. Having failed, the Village is now rewriting what happened.
The record speaks for itself. Before the election, the Village urged voters to defeat the library millage. The voters approved it. The Village then went to court and publicly asked the Court to set aside the election and force the library back onto the ballot. That was not a search for clarity. It was an effort to undo the votes of Sparta residents.
The Court declined. The election stands, the library keeps its funding, and the levy is limited to 0.2375 mills. That limit is exactly what the Township committed to from the beginning.
Before a single vote was cast, the Township Board formally acknowledged the clerical error in the ballot language. It also declared that the millage was and would remain limited to 0.2375 mills. The Township said the same thing to the Village, to residents, and to the Court. No one ever proposed a higher levy. The Village spent more than $50,000 chasing a boogeyman and forced the Township to spend public money defending the voters' decision.
Residents should ask whether it is proper for a village council to spend taxpayer money trying to overturn an election. Village voters did not elect their Council to litigate against a result it disliked. Village residents are also Township taxpayers, so they paid for both sides of this lawsuit. Thankfully, the Township spent a fraction of what the Village did. In the end, the Village obtained nothing the Township had not already promised in writing.
The Village also tries to justify the lawsuit by pointing to the registered voters who did not vote on the millage. Elections are decided by those who vote. A majority of voters approved the millage, including a majority in the Village precinct. Their votes deserve respect, not a lawsuit.
The Village says it never sought to deprive the library of funding. Residents can judge that claim against the Village's own actions. It opposed the millage, sued after voters approved it, and asked the Court to void the election. The Village now demands that the library restore services it prematurely reduced during the litigation. While the reduction in services was planned, they had not yet been acted upon. The Library’s plan was made for one reason: the Village was in court trying to take away its funding.
The Township agrees it is time to move forward, but not on a false narrative. The voters approved the millage. The Township honored their decision and committed to the 0.2375-mill limit from the start. The Court confirmed both. The Village spent more than $50,000 trying to overturn that outcome and failed.

Village response to the Consent Judgement 10/08/26

Attached is the response for the Consent Judgement the Township offered the Village. 10/08/2026

Download a File:
Villages response to Consent Judgement (PDF)

Consent Judgement Offered by Twp. Attorney Michael Homier

Attached is the Consent Judgement the Township offered the Village. 09/25/26

Download a File:
Consent Judgement Offered (PDF)

Sparta Township Condemns Village's Frivolous Lawsuit Attacking Voter-Approved Library Funding

SPARTA, MICHIGAN — September 10, 2026 — Sparta Township denounced a lawsuit filed by the Village of Sparta against Sparta Township that seeks to overturn the library millage approved by Sparta Township voters on August 4, 2026. The Township intends to defend the voters' decision to the fullest extent the law allows.
Make no mistake about what this lawsuit is: an attempt to nullify a free and fair election and to strip the Sparta Township Library of the operating funds its own voters approved. The millage is a ten-year renewal limited to 0.2375 mill — no more — and it is the Library's principal source of revenue for the services this community depends on every day. To attack that funding in court is to attack the Library itself, no matter how the Village wants to dress it up.
Sparta Township voters went to the polls and made their decision. This lawsuit asks a court to throw that decision in the trash. It is frivolous, it is wasteful, and it shows a stunning disregard for the very voters the Village claims to represent. The Township will not stand by while the Village tries to litigate away the will of the people.
The supposed basis for the suit — the omission of the word "not" from the phrase "to exceed 0.2375 mill" — is nothing more than a scrivener's error that was openly and repeatedly publicized before the election. It was discussed at a public Village meeting and covered by local media, and Village officials themselves urged residents to take note of it in the weeks before August 4. Voters cast their ballots with full knowledge of the very wording the Village now complains about — and they approved the millage anyway.
That is what makes this lawsuit so indefensible. The Village is not protecting voters from confusion; it is asking a court to overrule voters who were never confused in the first place. There is no coherent theory under which residents approved this millage believing the Library had unlimited taxing power but would have rejected it had they known the levy was capped at 0.2375 mill. The claim collapses under its own weight.
Equally galling is the Village's professed concern for "protecting taxpayers." Village residents are Township residents and taxpayers too. This lawsuit would force those very taxpayers to bankroll a legal assault on their own votes — funding the Village's attack, the Township's response, and the Library's involvement all at once. That is not taxpayer protection. It is a reckless waste of public dollars on a manufactured dispute, diverting money from libraries, services, and residents into needless litigation.
If this is how the Village intends to govern, the public should take note. The Township would rather be putting its time and resources into serving this community than defending an election the voters already decided. But if the Village insists on this fight, the Township is ready for it.
The Township will respond through the proper legal channels and reserve every right, defense, counterclaim, and remedy available to them, including the pursuit of sanctions where warranted. The Township’s message to the Village is simple: withdraw this baseless suit and respect the voters or be prepared to defend it.
Respectfully, The Sparta Township Board
Dale Bergman, Supervisor
Marcy Savage, Clerk
Ashley Johnson, Treasurer
Robert Steffens, Trustee
Jason Bradford, Trustee
Barbara Johnson, Trustee
William Goodfellow, Trustee, descended

Download a File:
Initial Letter from Village Manager Jim Lower (PDF)
Sparta Township's response to Village Manager's Letter (PDF)
Village of Sparta Lawsuit against Sparta Township Library Millage (PDF)

What Do Sparta Township Property Owners Receive in return for Their Township Taxes?

There has been a great deal of information circulating recently about Sparta Township, and the Township Board would like to provide clear, factual insight into what services are funded by the 0.94 mills paid by all township property owners which includes the Village residents.

Sparta Township levies a 0.9376 millage, which will generate approximately $400,000 in 2025 across the entire township, including the Village of Sparta property owners. For the average property owner, this equates to $78.64 per year, listed on your winter tax bill under SPARTA TWP OPER in the Tax Detail section.

For that annual investment of $78.64 Township, including the Village property owners receive access to a wide range of essential community services and resources, including but not limited to:

Sparta Fire Department, Sparta Township Library, SRA Sports Park, Assessing Services, Election Administration, Sparta Historical Society, Maintenance of Four Township Cemeteries and a dedicated Cemetery Sexton, and Farmland Preservation Programs.

In addition, your millage supports the operations of the Township Office and its elected officials, including the Township Supervisor, Clerk, Treasurer, and four Township Trustees.

The township has successfully maintained a stable tax rate for more than 24 years, with no plans for an increase. We’ve tried to be good stewards of all our revenue including the township millage and still maintain all our community services with less than $80.00 per average parcel.