A vacant lot owned by a Jackson woman was foreclosed by Hillsdale County because she failed to pay a $7 late fee on her property taxes.

A Freedom of Information Act request found that Pam Baker, a Jackson resident, owed Hillsdale County $7.70 in interest and late fees for delinquent taxes from 2013 on land she owned near Lake LeAnn in Somerset Township.

The 2013 taxes on the property, which she owned since 2000, were due on Feb. 14, 2014. Baker says she paid her taxes two weeks late because she was in a car crash seven days before the due date.

Hillsdale County Treasurer Gary Leininger confirmed that Baker paid her taxes, albeit late. He said Baker likely paid the taxes to the township where the property is located, and then the township treasurer turned the payment over to the county treasurer, which is responsible for collecting delinquent taxes.

Baker paid $161.29 on March 18, 2014, according to Leininger. The $7.70 was, he said, a balance due from interest and a four percent late fee.

“That’s standard operating procedure for county treasurers all over the state,” Leininger explained. “She would have received a paid receipt, but it clearly showed it was a partial payment and there was a balance due."

Leininger said the receipt would have shown a balance of less than $10 and Baker never responded.

Baker claims she didn’t receive any notices stating that a failure to pay the late fee would result in a forfeiture of the property. Baker’s property was forfeited on March 1, 2015. According to documents included in the FOIA, a notice of judgement of foreclosure was issued Feb. 26, 2016, which stated the foreclosure would become final on March 31, 2016.

Baker said she called the county clerk to find out what she owed on the property, and that’s when she found out it had already been foreclosed.

“I called there and couldn’t believe my property was foreclosed,” she said. “I couldn’t believe it. I didn’t receive anything.”

“I was just calling to see what I owe, but I didn’t know what it was for,” she said. “I never signed anything.”

Leininger disputed Baker’s claim that she did not receive any notifications. Documents received from the FOIA request show that Hillsdale County sent delinquent tax notices in 2014, postmarked June 1 and Sept. 1, to Baker's home address in Jackson. The notices said she owed $7.70. If she paid after Aug. 31, the fee would go up to $9.16. The second notice stated the fee would go up to $24.39 if the bill were paid after Nov. 30.

Documents also show that the county sent a notice of forfeiture to Baker’s Jackson residence on June 30, 2015, through certified mail. Tracking information indicates that the mail was not signed for, so a notice was left at Baker’s home and the mail was returned to the Hillsdale County treasurer's office.

The county also posted a notice on the Somerset Township lot and published notices in the Hillsdale Daily News three weeks in a row in January 2016. But Baker said she rarely visited the property, which is why she never saw any notices posted there, and she doesn’t receive the Hillsdale Daily News.

“The thing that gets me is, I have a phone number and they know what it is,” she said. “Why didn’t someone call me?”

“I had a 'for sale' sign on the property with my phone number on it,” she added.

Leininger, who sent an agent to post a notice on the property on Jan. 15, 2016, said county treasurers are not required by law to call delinquent taxpayers, nor did the county know Baker’s phone number.

He also said the last time the county heard from Baker, who has not paid her 2014 or 2015 property taxes, was March 18, 2014, when the county processed her payment on the delinquent 2013 taxes, absent the interest and late fee. “We never heard from her since, until after the foreclosure was final,” he said.

“In my view, the lady doesn’t have a leg to stand on,” Leininger said.

Michigan Capitol Confidential sent the FOIA request to Hillsdale County on April 7, 2016, but did not receive the requested documents until June 6, despite several follow-ups. State law allows for up to 15 business days for a response, but because of a lack of clarity in the statute, some public entities take much longer.

Christopher Douglas is an associate professor and the chair of the Department of Economics at the University of Michigan-Flint, where he teaches a half dozen classes. He has undergraduate degrees in electrical engineering and economics from Michigan Technological University as well as a doctorate in economics from Michigan State University.

Yet, Douglas has said he would have to complete additional coursework and also pass the Michigan Test for Teacher Certification to teach at a public high school in Michigan. And he isn’t alone.

Ross B. Emmett is a professor of political economy and political theory and constitutional democracy at James Madison College at MSU.

“According to the state of Michigan licensing requirements, I cannot teach economics in a Michigan high school,” Emmett said in an email. “This, despite the fact that I have a Ph.D. in economics and over thirty years of experience in liberal arts college classrooms with excellent evaluations.”

When the Legislature passed the $617 million bailout of Detroit Public Schools, it included in the law a provision that allowed DPS to hire non-certified teachers.

Media coverage of the provision has painted the district as being free to hire unqualified teachers off the street to fill up DPS classrooms.

The law states that any non-certified teachers would have to be hired by an “appropriate official of the community district” and only if the individuals’ combination of education and experience qualified them for the teaching post.

Consider WXYZ-TV's coverage on the possibility of non-certified teachers coming to DPS. An article stated: "What would you say if some lawmakers in Lansing said, 'We’re going to lower standards for who can be a teacher — but only in your child’s district?' That is exactly what some House Republicans said to Detroit parents."

DPS Interim Superintendent Alycia Meriweather told the Detroit Free Press she didn't like having the ability to hire non-credentialed experts to teach in her district.

"The legislation that is specific to Detroit to allow non-certified teachers into our classrooms I find to be extremely problematic," she said. "Think about being on an airplane and the pilot doesn’t show up, and the stewardess says, 'Has anyone ever wanted to fly? Today’s your day.' They're putting the future of 46,000 plus kids at risk. We need to be very careful about that, very conscientious about ... the law’s implications."

The American Federation of Teachers-Michigan claimed the law would allow “non-certified people to teach, without any requirements for education, experience or preparation. …”

Not mentioned in either report was the fact that the law already allows all school districts — not just Detroit — to hire individuals who are not certified to teach certain subjects. Still, many highly qualified people are barred from teaching at DPS because, although they are qualified to teach at a public K-12 school, they have not completed the state-required licensing.

"Unions like barriers to entry, which is what this certification represents," Douglas said.

Gary Wolfram is a professor of economics and public policy at Hillsdale College. He has written books on the economy, has served as the chairman of the board of trustees at Lake Superior State University, was a member of the State Board of Education from 1993 to 1999, received a Ph.D. in economics from the University of California at Berkeley and has taught at several colleges, including the University of Michigan.

“I could not teach at a public school (K-12),” Wolfram said in an email. “I think the principal should be able to decide and that the school aid money should follow the child, so choosing good teachers would be rewarded.”

According to the Michigan Department of Education, here’s what someone has to do to be eligible to teach at a Michigan K-12 public school.

All Michigan teachers must complete either a traditional teacher preparation program or an alternative program.

Teachers must also complete required reading courses. That means six semester credit hours for elementary teachers and three semester credit hours for secondary teachers.

Teachers must complete a course in first aid and CPR that is approved by the American Red Cross or similar organization.

Teachers must pass the Michigan Test for Teacher Certification and the Professional Readiness Examination/Basic Skills.

Douglas, Emmett and Wolfram are all members of the Mackinac Center for Public Policy’s board of scholars.