According to Citizen Portal, Harrison Township confirmed the special assessment to dredge the Archer, Lakeshore and Pardee canals on May 26, 2026. The roll totals $1,333,547.03, is split among 128 lots, and is payable in 10 annual installments starting Dec. 1, 2026. Spread evenly, that works out to about $10,418 per lot before interest. The final parcel-by-parcel roll hasn't been published in the sources available here, so each owner's actual share should come from the township. A canal home that closes in October or November 2026 closes before the first installment is due.
That timing matters because of how Michigan treats installment assessments. Under Michigan's Act 188 of 1954, each installment becomes a lien on the property only when it falls due. On a sale this fall, none of the roughly $10,000 is a lien yet, so a title search won't turn it up as one. The question of who pays it comes down to one clause in the purchase agreement.
Each Installment Becomes a Lien When It Comes Due
Section 7 of the Act governs township special assessments and lets the township board set the first due date, with later installments due at 12-month intervals. Unpaid installments carry interest at a rate the board sets. If no bonds are issued for the assessment by the township, a county, a drainage district or an authority, the statute caps that rate at 8% a year. No primary township document available here confirms the rate. Treat it as unconfirmed until the treasurer states it.
Two more provisions shape a sale. Any owner can pay off future installments in full at any time, with interest only through the month of payment. And on written request, the township treasurer must provide a statement of any lien on the property, with interest accrued through the end of that month. On a sale before Dec. 1, the remaining installments aren't liens yet, so the buyer, seller or title company should also ask the treasurer's office for the full payoff amount on future installments before the closing statement is drafted.
The Disclosure Form Asks One General Question
Michigan's Seller Disclosure Act form doesn't mention dredging, canals or special assessment districts. Its closest question is "Any outstanding municipal assessments or fees?" A seller who answers yes has to explain, and can attach extra pages. A seller on the Archer, Lakeshore or Pardee canals should answer yes, since the roll was confirmed in May.
The statute also describes the form as a disclosure of what the seller knows, and says it isn't meant to become part of the purchase contract. A yes on the form tells the buyer the assessment exists. It doesn't say who pays it. That allocation happens in the purchase agreement.
The Clause That Splits the Bill
The special assessments paragraph in the Michigan REALTORS® buy and sell agreement says the seller pays assessments that "have become a lien on the property." When an assessment is payable in installments, though, current and future installments are either prorated between seller and buyer like property taxes, or "paid in full by Seller at closing." A buy and sell form from Cislo Title Company sets it up the same way. The seller pays installments billed before closing, and the parties then choose to prorate and have the buyer take on future installments, have the seller pay off the balance, or agree in writing to something else.
For a canal lot carrying about $10,400, here is how those options play out on a sale closing before Dec. 1, 2026:
| Option chosen in the agreement | What happens at closing | What the buyer owns afterward |
|---|---|---|
| Prorate current and future installments | Seller and buyer split the 2026 installment by the tax-proration method | Most of the 10 annual installments, plus interest |
| Seller pays in full at closing | Payoff amount quoted by the township treasurer comes out of seller proceeds | No dredging assessment |
| Other written arrangement | Whatever the parties negotiate, such as a credit or a partial payoff | Depends on the terms |
Proration only splits the year being prorated. Each future installment belongs to whoever owns the house when it comes due. A buyer who accepts proration without asking the treasurer for the remaining balance may pick up nearly the full assessment. A seller who wants to price the home as free of the assessment can pay it off at closing. Either way, the cost should be negotiated in the purchase agreement, not discovered on the first December bill. Our sellers page and buyers page cover how clauses like this fit into a full offer.
Lake Levels Don't Settle the Question
A buyer might wonder why canals need dredging when Lake St. Clair isn't low. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers' September 2026 bulletin puts the lake's August 2026 mean at 575.26 feet. That's 6 inches above the long-term average of 574.77 feet, 3 inches above August 2025, and 25 inches below the August record of 577.33 feet set in 2020. The Corps expects seasonal declines over the coming months, with the lake still forecast 3 to 7 inches above its long-term average.
Those numbers describe the lake, not any one canal bottom. The canal problem in these neighborhoods is sediment and weeds. Ken Mulder, one of the residents who organized the Harrison Township district, told C&G Newspapers that neighbors started planning at the end of 2022. They expected the lake to trend down after the record highs of 2019 and 2020. Support for sediment removal in the early 2000s faded as levels rose, and residents found no record of maintenance dredging in a long time. High water covered up the buildup, and lower water exposes it again.
St. Clair Shores shows how this goes once residents act. C&G reported in October 2025 that residents along the Benjamin and Statler canals, north of 10 Mile Road, said most of the canal was under 2 feet deep. City minutes from December 2025 record that the barge couldn't get into the canal, so the scope was reduced for the same per-parcel cost. On Jan. 5, 2026, the council confirmed a $255,000 roll across 51 parcels, or $5,000 each, with the balance due Feb. 2, 2026. Because that balance was due all at once, it worked differently at a sale than Harrison Township's 10-year schedule does.
The value question was argued at the Harrison Township hearings. One resident said real estate agents had told him St. Clair Shores homes lost 20% to 30% of their value when their canals became unnavigable. Another resident said she didn't know whether dredging would raise property values by as much as the district charges. Both were stating opinions at a public hearing. Neither figure is measured sales data.
What the Assessment Does Not Cover
The Huron Pointe neighborhood notice about the project names Aquatic Hydraulic Dredging of Black River, Michigan, as the contractor. It says sediment will be removed across the general width of the canal, and it states plainly that the work "WILL NOT go into boat wells/cut-ins." Owners who wanted those areas cleared had to request separate estimates and pay before that work was done. On a canal home, a buyer can reasonably ask whether the seller paid for boat well work and whether it was done. The assessment alone doesn't answer that.
The same notice scheduled dredging to start Aug. 1, 2026 and run into late fall. Dredged material goes into geotextile bags at Aune Park to dry. Second-phase bags may stay until spring 2027, with park restoration after they're removed in 2027. The sources available here don't confirm whether work has started or how far it has gotten as of early October. The notice directs project questions to the Harrison Township Supervisor's office. A buyer touring a canal home this fall may see a canal partway through the work and a park still being used as a staging area.
The dispute over the bags at Aune Park and truck traffic on neighborhood roads ran through the April hearing. Supervisor Kenneth Verkest said, "This is Harrison Township responding to the request of, those of you who are opposed, your neighbors saying, 'Please move forward.'" He also said a similar assessment district had been completed more than a decade earlier. Canal dredging in this area recurs, so a buyer comparing canal homes can fairly ask when each canal was last dredged and who paid for it.
Separately, Macomb County is running a three-year, $800,000 state-funded trial against muck at Campau Bay, Hidden Cove Condominiums and Veterans Memorial Park. It targets Microseira wollei algae, not residential canal sediment. As of Sept. 25, the Detroit Free Press reported that the work hadn't started because permits were still pending. It won't reduce any canal owner's share of Roll No. 231.
Before You Sign
- Ask the township treasurer in writing for the remaining balance and payoff amount on the specific parcel, plus any lien statement under Section 7(6).
- Read the special assessments paragraph in the purchase agreement and mark which option applies: proration, seller payoff, or a written alternative.
- Ask whether boat well or cut-in dredging was ordered and paid for separately.
- Confirm the current status of dredging on the canal and whether the Aune Park bags have been removed.
- Have the title company show the assessment on the closing statement, so the buyer and seller both see how the cost was split. Our local affiliates include title partners who handle these.
FAQ
If I prorate, am I paying for dredging that was done before I owned the home? Yes. Each future installment belongs to whoever owns the parcel when it comes due, whenever the work was done.
Can a seller pay it off just to make the listing simpler? Yes. Michigan law allows the full balance to be paid to the township treasurer at any time, with interest through the month of payment.
Is this the same as the St. Clair Shores canal assessment? No. St. Clair Shores billed $5,000 per parcel with the balance due Feb. 2, 2026. Harrison Township spread its assessment over 10 annual installments.
This is general information, not legal or tax advice. If you own on the Archer, Lakeshore or Pardee canals and plan to sell, Helm & Associates can price your home with the dredging balance figured in from the start. Request a free Home Value (CMA) or talk with our Broker about how to handle the assessment in your purchase agreement.
