Saturday, March 14, 2009Dearborn Residents and Taxpayers,Mayor John B. O’Reilly, Jr.,Council President Thomas P. Tafelski,Council President-Pro Tem Nancy A. Hubbard,Councilman Douglas B. Thomas,Councilwoman Suzanne Sareini,Councilman Mark Shooshanian,Councilman George T. Darany,Corporation Counsel Debra A. Walling,In response to the article in the Times-Herald Newspaper regardingunpaid property taxes on the Garrison Oaks Condominium development, Ifeel compelled to write this letter. I want everyone to clearly understandthat I am a member of the corporation that built this development but notlegally responsible for its obligations. However, because of the concernthis situation has caused many in this community, I am personallypromising to pay the taxes on behalf of the organization in the next thirtydays.I want to offer a sincere apology to everyone who has been affectedby this issue especially my colleagues on the City Council and the Mayor of the great City of Dearborn. I also want to apologize to the citizens of Dearborn for any unrest this matter may have caused them.As you may know, the Garrison Oaks Condominium development wasintended to use an under-developed and under-utilized parcel of land indowntown West Dearborn. The plan was to build eleven condominiumunits and sell each unit. This plan started in late 2003; construction beganin 2004, and the first units were sold in 2006. Unfortunately, after

completing a majority of the construction and incurring a significant portionof the $1.975 million in development costs, the real estate market beganits downward spiral which has had a significant impact in our community. This development, like most homeowners, Ford Motor Company, andbusinesses throughout Michigan, has not been immune to the economicdownturn, decline in the housing market, or the financial crisis andconditions of recent times. These factors put an unusual and uncontrollable financial burden onthis development. The first priority from planning stages through the mostrecent times was to complete the project that was started, create a highquality condominium site, and respect the expectations of the currentcondominium owners and neighbors in the area. In this effort, financialdecisions were made to prioritize the available financial resources andobjectives. In the end, all of the units have been issued Certificates of Occupancy. Four of the units are still held by the development company asregistered rental properties and have tenants. The combination of the unique, unpredictable, and devastatingfinancial circumstances beyond my control are the reasons that the realestate property taxes owed by the corporation are not yet paid. There isalso one other commercial property owned by a corporation that is in thesame situation due to the culmination of economic hardships.Again, I am sorry that the corporation is in this position. I am alsosorry for the unrest this unavoidable situation has caused. That is why I amtaking this step to resolve this matter to the best of my abilityI hope this promise to pay will be considered as a genuine attempt toput this issue behind all of us. I truly enjoy serving the people of Dearborn,and I do not want to jeopardize my position on our Council, the integrity of