League Publications

These publications have been developed to help you carry out your role as a municipal official.

•  Directory of Michigan Municipal Officials/Yellow Pages

• Empty Houses

• Ethics Handbook for Michigan Municipalities

• Handbook for General Law Village Officials

• Handbook for Municipal Officials

• Municipal Prosecution - Distribution of Fines and Costs

• Planning Commissioners Handbook

• Records Management Handbook

• Restoring Michigan Communities Building by Building

• Zoning Board of Appeals Handbook

Directory of Michigan Municipal Officials/Yellow Pages

The Directory of Michigan Municipal Officials is the only place to find contact information for thousands of Michigan community leaders - everything from the phone number of the Addison village president to the address of Zilwaukee City Hall - plus demographic information on each community as well as the names of state and U.S. representatives. There's also easy-to-navigate information on Michigan Municipal League programs and services.

The Directory Yellow Pages  is the ‘yellow pages’ section of the Directory. It is the primary reference for local officials when they need advice, are seeking firms to bid on new projects, or want to find out what’s new in the industry.

A complimentary directory is sent to all city managers and clerks, and mayors/presidents with populations of 4,000 and above. Complimentary copies will be mailed to the offices of your community but if you would like to purchase additional copies, they are available to League members at $15 each.

Please note: This book is compiled once a year following the November municipal elections, and published the following spring. The 2013 Directory of Michigan Municipal Officials will be available after March 1, 2013.

Click here for the online Directory Yellow Pages searchable by category or company.

Order your copy of the 2013 Directory of Michigan Municipal Officials. Order form (this is a link to the PDF order form).

Click here for online directories for the State of Michigan and U.S. government agencies, as well as legislative contact information.

Handbook for General Law Village Officials
This newly revised and greatly expanded handbook is essential reading material for both new and veteran elected and appointed officials in general law villages. Topics covered include basics of public service; the structure and function of village government in Michigan; specifics about the roles and responsibilities of general law village officials; options for delivering village services to residents; how to select and work with consultants; and in-depth tips about the operation of village government including written procedures, village financial operations, personnel and human resources issues, labor relations issues, risk management and environmental concerns. Numerous appendices cover the 1998 revisions to the GLV Act; a summary of other laws that affect GLVs; the full text of the Open Meetings Act and the Freedom of Information Act; sample rules of procedure for GLV council meetings; and five key sample ordinances. A Michigan Municipal League publication. Approx. 180 pages.

Planning Commissioners Handbook
This book was written to help new planning commissioners become effective commissioners. The topics covered include tools for planning commissioners, preparing for meetings, meeting the public, how knowledge of the zoning ordinance and applying ordinance standards will help you make decisions that will stick and what the future holds for planning commissioners. Written by Steve Langworthy, published by the Michigan Municipal League. 50 pages.

Records Management Handbook:
Guidelines and Approved Retention and Disposal Schedule for Cities and Villages
Michigan law requires that:

• all records be listed on an approved Retention and Disposal Schedule and  

• all Retention and Disposal Schedules must be formally approved by the Records Management Services [in the Department of Technology, Management, and Budget], the Archives of Michigan and the State Administrative Board.  

Schedule #8, “Records Management Handbook:  Guidelines and Approved Retention and Disposal Schedule for Cities and Villages,” originally published by the Michigan Municipal League, is an approved schedule.  However, Records Management Services is updating it in sections, as separate schedules.  If you have adopted and used Schedule #8, you now need to adopt the separate schedules that have superseded sections of this book. For instance, the Elections schedule (schedule #23) and the Clerks schedule (schedule #24) have superseded sections of the Records Management Handbook published by the League.   If you are adopting it for the first time, you need to adopt schedules #23 and #24 with it.

Not all the new schedules promulgated by Records Management Services supersede sections of the Records Management Handbook.  Schedules such as Public Libraries (schedule # 17) and Human Resources (schedule #26) are new, and were never a part of the original general schedule.  You should look over the list of general schedules and adopt the schedules that are appropriate for your municipality.

 Now an Ebook!

Records Management Handbook:  Guidelines and Approved Retention and Disposal Schedule for Cities and Villages
(179KB printer friendly)

 *The schedule in this handbook has been pre-approved by the State of Michigan. It contains the usual documents found in most municipal departments. For questions on this schedule, contact:

Caryn Wojcik, Government Records Archivist
State of Michigan, Records Management Services
3400 N. Grand River Ave.
PO Box 30026
Lansing MI 48909
(517) 335-8222

Restoring Michigan Communities Building by Building
This manual is intended to provide the basics for restoring Michigan communities—building by building. It focuses on the problems faced by the largest and the smallest of our communities. How do we effectively deal with dangerous and unsafe buildings? How can we best address the problems of litter, overgrown weeds, and abandoned buildings? We do so by acknowledging that the problems, unless dealt with effectively and quickly, not only impede our community progress but also sap our community spirit.

We know that vibrant communities have, in common, walkable downtowns, flourishing retail districts, exciting cultural opportunities, affordable housing and educational opportunities. We also know that favorable design concepts promote mixed-use, walkable neighborhoods that work to retain and attract young people and their employers to Michigan and the “new retirees” of the baby boomer generation. We know what works—we need to make sure that we have in place the tools that permit us to create vibrant communities in our downtowns, neighborhoods and regions.

Zoning Board of Appeals Handbook
This handbook was written to help new zoning board of appeals members understand the scope of their role and responsibilities, and to provide them with a basis of understanding in order to capably perform their duties within the law. Topics covered include: the role of the ZBA as a whole and as individual members; an explanation of the zoning enabling acts; the ZBA's relationship to other municipal bodies and individuals; how to identify and handle conflicts of interest; hot to interpret a zoning ordinance; types of variances; preparing for and conducting meetings; and guidelines for making tough decisions. Written by Steve Langworthy. 40 pages.

Contact: Kim Cekola, Information Coordinator
Phone: 734.669.6321 or Email: kcekola@mml.org