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A planned community rally to protest Walmart’s attempt to get a property tax rollback for its Houghton store drew a small crowd yesterday.
At the designated start time of 2:00, only a handful of residents appeared. A few late arrivals grew the total to about 10.
Hancock resident Glenn Anderson said a recent outreach by Walmart to begin negotiations about the dispute is welcome, but wondered why they refused to address the issue when they first initiated action against the city five years ago…
Anderson noted that he was speaking as a citizen, and not in his role as a county commissioner. He said it will take continued public pressure to try to keep Walmart engaged.
Walmart’s petition to the Michigan Tax Tribunal is asking for a 60 percent rollback in the property taxes paid on its Houghton store, retroactive for six years.
Houghton officials say the company agreed to the current rate of taxation in exchange for city investments that facilitated expansion of the store.
