The Muskegon County Treasurer's office is starting the forfeiture process on two former Muskegon Public School district buildings that were sold by the school district to a non-profit agency.
Records show the owner of the property, Life Training Campus, a non-profit headed by Joseph Lamie, hasn't paid property taxes of more than $20,000 over the last three years. Typically a non-profit organization is exempt from property taxes if the entity "occupies" a building but Muskegon County Equalization Director Donna VanderVries ruled the buildings are empty and should not be exempt from taxes.
Lamie said back in November 2016 he thinks the buildings are tax-exempt and told us he hadn't paid his tax bills because he thinks the government's stiffing him with the tax valuation of the schools. Froebel is valued at $125,000 and Phillips is valued at nearly $500,000. In 2014, Muskegon Public Schools sold Froebel for $1000 and Phillips for $500 just to get rid of them with the hopes somebody would bring them back to life.
Muskegon County Equalization Director VanderVries says those valuations are opinions of value and it's up to Lamie to appeal them, something Lamie is in the process of doing.
Last fall, the 13 Watchdog team asked questions about the sale of the two former Muskegon school buildings after we found the Muskegon School District was unaware its current occupant had a long court history and had previously filed for bankruptcy.
In various court systems, Lamie has sued or been sued close to a dozen times. Federal court documents show last year he lost his primary residence because of a quote "foreclosure-related eviction case". Earlier in 2016, he was jailed because he didn't pay fines related to his conviction for driving while his license was suspended.
Federal documents also show Lamie came out of bankruptcy in May 2016. Federal court records show Lamie also filed for bankruptcy in 1991.
Muskegon school leaders defended their decision to sell the schools for such a small amount because they thought the new owner was going to do something positive for the community.
"He did bring a wonderful team in and very eager to want to purchase the properties with a plan that we want to get going," former Muskegon Public Schools superintendent Jon Felske said back in November.
Lamie has until the end of March in 2018 to pay the taxes or risk losing the buildings.
►Make it easy to keep up to date with more stories like this. Download the WZZM 13 app now.
Have a news tip? Email news@wzzm13.com, visit our Facebook page or Twitter.