The Saginaw County Sheriff’s Department has yet to explain how 56,000 miles were added to the odometer of a classic muscle car that it seized and held for over a year before selling it. The county also denied a Freedom of Information Act request for more documents regarding the vehicle following a previous article detailing the civil asset forfeiture case.

On Sept. 13, it was reported that 56,000 miles had been added to a 1965 Chevy Nova SS, which was owned by Shiawassee County couple Gerald and Royetta Ostipow, while it was in the possession of the department. Information in the report came from a seizure-related form from the department as well as a title transfer document.

A day later, Saginaw County Sheriff William Federspiel went on the Frank Beckmann Show and said allegations were not fact-based, citing the same title documents.

“A lot of what I’ve seen reported is allegation not based on fact and we have copies of the title and the mileage and all that,” he said.

Days later, the Mackinac Center for Public Policy sent the county a FOIA request asking for the Chevy Nova’s vehicle logs, or sign-out sheets.

On Sept. 26, the county denied the FOIA request, saying it did not have the requested documents. It added that the previous news report was “based on inaccurate factual representations, including the false premise that the 1965 Chevrolet Nova seized by the Saginaw County Sheriff’s Department was subsequently operated by the Saginaw County Sheriff’s Department.”

The Ostipows filed the lawsuit on Aug. 24 with the U.S. District Court in Detroit against Federspiel, the department and a number of unnamed sheriff's deputies, alleging that the department seized hundreds of thousands of dollars of the couple’s property. The suit also said that the department sold the seized property — including the Nova — before there was a final determination of forfeitability and despite the Ostipows never being charged with a crime.

The lawsuit stems from a series of searches in April 2008 of the Ostipows' two Shiawassee County properties. In addition to seizing the vehicle and an accompanying trailer, deputies also took dozens of animal mounts, tools, deer blinds and farming implements. Those items were stored on a farmhouse property the Ostipows owned, down the street from their residence. Their grown son, Steven Ostipow, lived in the farmhouse.

Deputies found marijuana plants and seeds from a growing operation their son maintained before the department seized various items. The elder Ostipows have claimed they did not know he was growing marijuana.

A trial court later ruled that Ostipows were not, in fact, innocent owners, but knew about the marijuana operation. The Michigan Court of Appeals later found that Royetta Ostipow’s portion of property seized from the farmhouse — including the Nova — should be returned. Another trial court found that “most of the personal property seized was improperly taken and was ordered non-forfeitable.” The lawsuit filed by the senior Ostipows alleges Federspiel and his department sold off the property before a ruling came down on the forfeitability of the seized items.

The title and seizure documents show that 56,000 miles were added to the vehicle.

According to an official forfeiture document dated April 24, 2008, a detective wrote that the vehicle’s odometer read 73,865. According to the “title assignment by seller” form dated June 2009 — around the time the department sold the vehicle for $1,500 — the mileage was recorded as 130,000 and signed by Federspiel.

Federspiel and Saginaw County did not respond to questions asking for an explanation of how, if nobody in the department had driven the vehicle, 56,000 miles were add to the odometer.

In his radio interview, Federspiel blamed his predecessor for the car’s seizure. He did not become sheriff until January 2009, after the seizure, as was noted on Beckmann’s show.

“This case originated under my predecessor, the sheriff who was before me,” he said. “Nine months worth before I ever became sheriff.” Federspiel added everything his department does related to forfeitures is at the direction of the county prosecutor’s office.

Philip Ellison, one of the Ostipows' lawyers, contends the lawsuit isn’t challenging the seizure of the property, but the sale of the property under Federspiel’s watch.

In the radio interview, Federspiel also said that the Nova, which was on a trailer at the time it was seized, was not operable.

Ellison disputes this, saying that the Nova was operable — its engine was working and the vehicle could be driven — although it was missing seats that were being reupholstered when the department seized the car.

“There are a lot of questions surrounding what Sheriff Federspiel and those under his command did or did not do with the Ostipows' property — property that took a lifetime of hard work to obtain and a few hours for the deputies to improperly seize,” Ellison said. “One of those questions is the mileage discrepancy with the restored 1965 Nova.”

On his radio interview, Federspiel also said the department would release a formal statement and a timeline detailing events involving the Ostipows' case. Emails asking for the statement and timeline were not returned.

In a response to the complaint filed with the federal court, Federspiel and 10 other unnamed sheriff’s deputies denied nearly every accusation.

“We expect the federal lawsuit will force the sheriff to admit his department's cavalier attitude to the Ostipows and many others who have been wrongfully treated by questionable use of the civil forfeiture statute,” Ellison added.

Correction: This story originally reported the mileage at 54,000 extra miles. The correct mileage was 56,000.

Jim Riley saved and invested so he could retire. Now he wonders why his city government hasn’t done the same for its employees.

As a retiree who wishes to enjoy his golden years in the lakeshore community where he worked and lived, he is concerned about the consequences of the city of Norton Shores’ unfunded pension and retiree health benefit liabilities.

“As a taxpayer, I know there are few options when you have a significant underage of funding. You can increase taxes. You can cut back on city services significantly. Or, you can attack the current union contracts and the wages of current employees and reduce the wages and benefits. I don’t know how that can be done legally but those are the options,” said Riley.

After reading the Mackinac Center’s ranking of pension underfunding for Michigan’s largest 100 cities, Riley was inspired to take action. He is alerting his neighbors about the underfunding and encouraging them to lobby city administrators and elected officials. He has met with city administrators and two of the city’s nine council members.

According to the Mackinac Center’s analysis, Norton Shores is listed sixth from the bottom in pension underfunding. According to the city’s most recent comprehensive annual financial report, the pension liability is $20.3 million. The city also has a liability of $38.1 million for retiree health benefits. The city has funded less than 51 percent of its pension obligations and less than 5 percent for health benefits.

After the analysis surfaced and taxpayers demanded explanations, City Administrator Mark Meyers sent a memo about the liabilities to the Council.

The memo states that the funding problem began 25 years ago when the city didn’t make contributions to the pension fund for 3 consecutive years. He also said the city adopted a more conservative approach to the assumptions it uses for contributions, which made the underfunding look greater than it did in the past.

Meyer says employees are now required to pay higher contributions to the plan and that their benefits will be reduced. He said also that the city will put an additional $2.5 million in the fund over the next seven years. Meyer added that when the pension system is 80 percent, the city will close it to new employees.

“The city takes the matter seriously. We have implemented a number of strategies to lower costs and increase funding,” said Meyer, adding that more steps will be announced in the next 60 to 90 days.

He says the city always had a “pay as you go” system for retiree health benefits but is now required to report the liability under new accounting standards. The city has reduced benefits for employees hired after 2011, put nearly $2 million aside to cover benefits and has increased the health insurance premium co-pay over the past 12 years. Under the Michigan Constitution, pension benefits earned by government employees may not be cut (outside of federal bankruptcy court). Post-retirement health insurance benefits, however, can be cut or even eliminated for current as well as future employees.

T.J. Parker, a retired engineer, joined Riley in speaking out. Both made comments to the Council at a recent meeting.

“They didn’t give me any answers tonight that I actually liked. My take on retirement is if you made a contract with people, you should darn well have the money to meet those requirements. I heard the comment tonight, well, we have other commitments. That is an awful large commitment to break,” said Parker.

Riley worries that the liabilities will drive up taxes and chase large taxpayers, like employers, out of town.

“I can personally afford more in property taxes but the financial death tax spiral happens when communities increase their taxes and big companies say I’m going to move out because of the tax situation,” said Riley.

Five of the City’s nine council members will be up for re-election next year and Riley believes unfunded pension and retiree health obligations will be a major deciding factor for voters.

“We know the ultimate result is Detroit. It is Muskegon Heights schools. This is what is frightening to me. We’re not talking about Puerto Rico or Greece or Indonesia, we’re talking about cities near us,” said Riley.

He called for taxpayers and businesses in communities with similar liabilities to speak out and for state lawmakers to pass laws prohibiting municipal pension and retiree health benefit underfunding.