Isabella County Board removes drain commissioner's loan
The Isabella County Board of Commissioners address the Drain Commissioner long-term advance loan in their board meeting at the Commission on Aging on Dec. 2, 2025.
At the Dec. 12 Isabella County Board of Commissioners meeting, the board approved removing the long-term advance (loan) for the drain commission. The board also approved a John Deere purchase with 2% funds, while addressing public confusion.
At the meeting, the board reviewed a long-term advance for the drain commission's drain revolving fund for $150,000 from the general fund. The board voted to move the long-term advance to the general fund without it being paid back because of increased costs for maintenance and drain projects.
During the Sept. 1, 2020, board meeting, the long-term advance was approved and worded so that it would be paid back in five years and intended as a loan, Tobin Hope, District 7 Representative on the Board of Commissioners, said.
Robert Willoughby, drain commissioner, was at the Sept. 1, 2020, board meeting and was part of the conversation about the fund, Hope said. He looked back at the meeting minutes and on the recorded YouTube session to confirm this.
“Maybe in the meantime, both parties (the drain commission and board of commissioners) had forgotten, not suggesting there was any deception by anyone,” Hope said. “I just think the intent was forgotten by both parties, but it was intended as a loan.”
There is not enough money for keeping up costs for all the drain maintenance, said Frank Engler, chairperson and district four representative on the Board of Commissioners. Most of the drains max out the maintenance fee, he said.
“Because we haven’t collected on it, there’s no terms to collect on it," Engler said. "We’re not losing anything."
If the request was voted against, the request would leave the $150,000 in the drain commission’s general fund’s books, but would not have the expectation of being paid back.
At the meeting, the board also approved purchasing a John Deere 554P Wheel Loader for over $250,000. The money will be reimbursed through an Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) grant, Engler said. Through a contract with the Saginaw Chippewa Indian Tribe, this grant provides funds to buy equipment associated for the Isabella County Material Recovery Facility (ICMRF).
"There's a lot of discussion, a lot of confusion on this," Jerry Jaloszynski, District 3 Representative on the Board of Commissioners, said.
Jaloszynski said that the discussion came from Facebook. To clarify the confusion he said that the county will use the Tribe’s 2% funds on a temporary basis to help make the purchase before being reimbursed.
"So I mean, you can argue all day if the federal government should be giving out dollars that it doesn't have to give out, but it's going to be used by one level of government or another..." Jaloszynski said.
