Graham Jaehnig/Daily Mining Gazette Firefighters remain on the scene of the fire at the Laurium DPW building in this Feb. 8 photo. Despite the fire and loss of most of the DPW equipment, the Village is moving forward with exploration of transitiioning from a village to a city

LAURIUM – While village officials continue to work on rebuilding the Public Works Department after a Februaryt fire, Village Manager Ian Lewis said the process of determining whether Laurium should remain a village or become a city is still in progress.

In December, the village began a survey offering village residents an opportunity to weigh in on the question. The deadline for the survey has been extended from the end of February until the end of May, Lewis said.

“I’m going to put it back on the agenda in May for the council members to start reviewing the online responses,” Lewis said, “and to give them print outs of the in-person surveys that were taken.”

Lewis said that while responses to the survey were slow in coming in the early weeks it was open, but the number has increased a bit since then.

As of the regular monthly Village Council meeting on Jan. 14, the survey revealed that while only 69 residents have responded, of those, 79 percent favor changing from a village to a city.

But with a population of 1,879, that number is still less than 10% of the residents, though the number of responses has increased since 2025 began.

“We have over 100 responses from people who have filled out the survey, which have been verified, which is fantastic,” Lewis said. “It’s 81 percent in support of becoming a city.”

The topic of becoming a city had been discussed for a couple of months beginning last year.

Last fall, officials consulted an attorney, who explained the benefits and disadvantages of being a city vs. remaining a village. Lewis said the attorney told the council that the primary reason most villages do not become cities is because they lack many services, such as police protection and sanitation, and so rely on the township to assist in providing those services.

The village, though, already pays for and maintains its own services, such as sanitation, fire, police protection, Lewis said, and the village governance is geared more toward that of a city than a village.

But while Laurium possesses those services, it does not conduct property assessing, conduct elections, or collect school taxes. The village also does not maintain its own sewage, but like the other municipalities in Calumet Township, contracts with the North Houghton County Water and Sewer Authority, and contracts with the Upper Michigan Water Company, in Calumet.

There are advantages for village residents in becoming a city. For example, Laurium would no longer pay specific taxes to Calumet Township, such as the township’s operating tax, which is currently around 1.28 mills. There is the additional the Colosseum tax, too. Laurium already owns and maintains its own Gipp Ice Arena.

While Lewis has cautioned that if becomes a city, Laurium likely request a future tax millage to support some additional operating for things like Parks and Recreation updates. The council hasn’t yet gotten to the point of discussing millages, Lewis said, because it is currently only in discussion at this point. Lewis said.

“We’re at the point where we want the current residents’ input on what’s the right path in moving forward,” Lewis said.

Lewis said he would like more residents to fill out and return the survey. That is why the deadline has been extended a month.

The survey can be taken online at https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/MZXT798 Paper copies can also be picked up at Laurium businesses or the Village Office, to be turned it at the office.

“If they have any questions about the survey, they can reach out to our office, or come speak with me,” Lewis said. “I’m more than happy and willing to do that.”