Sara Shelly has the honor of being Pere Marquette's first new treasurer in nearly 44 years!  Sara has been a township employee for about four years, serving as Deputy Clerk and as the Administrative Assistant in Finance and Accounting.  Many of you know Sara from her work with elections, or her cheerful disposition while helping in various offices at the Townhall.  Sara has a degree in Accounting from Grand Valley State University, and came to us with about 11 years of experience in various accounting positions.

The Treasurer's office has another new face as well, Jackie Sroka.  Jackie is Sara's assistant and Deputy Treasurer.  If you have Township water service, or Township sewer service, Jackie will also be preparing your bill and receiving your payment for these services.

The Treasurer's office is busy with the daily tracking of the Township treasury. This includes taxes, water and sewer administration, the township’s agreements with other governmental units, payroll, and issuing of checks for Township bills.  All funds received by the Township are payable to the Treasurer's office -- everything from taxes to building permits, from leaf collection to water bills.  It's all centralized now, so you know where to come when you bring in your payments.

If you are a property owner in Pere Marquette Township, you'll receive a tax bill in the mail twice each year.  The summer tax bill is mailed July 1, and collects 100% of the yearly taxes for the Ludington Area School District and Mason-Lake Intermediate chool District, as well as the yearly taxes for West Shore Community College.  Beginning in 2005, the summer bill also contains a portion of the County operating tax, which used to be collected entirely in the winter.  In 2005, one-third of the County operating tax is on the summer bill.  In 2006, two-thirds will be collected in the summer.  By 2007, the entire amount will be collected in the summer.  The good news is that your winter bills will be going down as this collection is transferred to the summer bills.

The winter tax bill represents operational costs for the Township, and Pere Marquette's portion for other taxing entities, such as the library and other county services and offices,  fire coverage, etc.  To go along with the explanation in the paragraph above, in 2005 you will find 2/3 of the County operating tax on your winter bill.  In 2006, it will only be 1/3 of County operating tax. By 2007, all of the County operating tax will have been transferred to the summer tax bill.  The winter portion of your taxes is mailed out on December 1.

A recently added feature of this website and service of the Township is the availability of tax and assessing records, building permits and water/sewer billing information on line.  Try out the service on our Public Records link.

If you have any questions about the information in this part of our website, please contact Sara at the Townhall 231/845-1277 or send e-mail to her at sara@pmtwp.org.  She would also like to hear from you regarding additional information you would find helpful to have on our website.

Many more dedicated people work together to make up your Township staff. You’ll find them on our other web pages, so keep exploring!