Leaders Of Suttons Bay Public Schools, Peninsula Housing Allege Campaign Of Misinformation Against Recent Property Deal

A local taxpayer group is calling for an independent audit of a recent land sale by Suttons Bay Public Schools (SBPS) to Leelanau County nonprofit Peninsula Housing. The group says the sale didn’t follow proper protocols for transparency and competitive bids, that the district sold the property for less than its value, and that the deal will result in more tax burden being shifted onto other property owners.

Leaders for both SBPS and Peninsula Housing say the campaign is grounded almost entirely in misinformation, and question the motivations of people behind it.

Last spring, the SBPS Board of Education voted to sell 9.5 acres to Peninsula Housing for $800,000. The land amounted to roughly a quarter of the school district’s campus, and had long served as athletic fields. Peninsula Housing is leasing the land back to SBPS for that purpose on a $30,000-per-year basis, but is working with the Village of Suttons Bay to rezone the property for a future attainable housing project.

The sale has drawn the ire of a group called “Concerned Taxpayers of Leelanau County” (CTOLC), which ran an ad in the January 22 Leelanau Enterprise criticizing the transaction. CTOLC takes issue with how “lightly marketed” the property was prior to the sale, and with the fact that SBPS only considered one bid. CTOLC also alleges that the $800,000 sale price was well below market value, claiming that “the district’s own appraisal said it could be worth up to $1.2 million.”

The CTOLC ad has since been shared around social media, sparking debates in places like the Overheard in Leelanau County Facebook group.

A QR code included with the ad leads to a “fact sheet” on the Leelanau County Republican Party website, which further alleges that SBPS Casey Petz “had sole authority” in deciding to sell the land and that Peninsula Housing “used undisclosed private investors” to finance the purchase.

“This deal was sold as ‘attainable housing,’ but it appears to be an insider-driven transaction with tax deferrals favoring the buyer and minimal oversight,” the post states, adding that Peninsula Housing “plans to stack PILOT, AHFE and Brownfield tax breaks” on the land, thereby “cutting local tax revenue.”

“Suttons Bay deserves transparency, accountability, and fair value for its public land,” the post concludes, encouraging locals to urge both “an independent audit of the school land sale” and “disclosure for Peninsula Housing’s investors and funding sources.”

Both Petz and Peninsula Housing founder Larry Mawby dismiss most of the claims as misinformation.

Petz, who came aboard as SBPS superintendent six years ago this week, says he got the job largely because of his plan for “right-sizing” the district. Years ago, SBPS boasted an enrollment of approximately 1,200 students; as of the 2024-25 school year, enrollment was down to 491. The decline has left SBPS with too much land, too much building space, and significant expenses related to both. The right-sizing process, which will include demolishing some 55,000 square feet of under-utilized building space, was central to an $18.3 million bond voters approved in 2024.

Petz says selling the district’s existing athletic fields was also always part of the plan, but the timeline got bumped up last year when the district went out of formula for state funding. Peninsula Housing, which had previously expressed interest in buying the land, seemed like a natural fit.

“When you move out of formula, there's typically a gap of 1-2 years where you have to cover expenses with cash reserves,” Petz explains. “The district decided to sell the property in 2025 because we needed cash, we had a willing buyer that was able to pay what the property had appraised for, and we were interested in a buyer who was planning to put up attainable housing for people who want to work here and live here.”

Petz disputes the claims that the land was sold with no public notice (“Anyone can attend our committee meetings, where we discussed the potential sale of this property for years”) and that he had “sole authority” in making the deal (“The board acted by resolution, at a public meeting, and that resolution was prepared by legal counsel,” he says).

Petz is also uncertain how CTOLC determined the property “could be worth up to $1.2 million.” The appraisal of the parcel identifies a “value conclusion” of $800,000 for the 9.53 acres. Upon review of the 89-page appraisal document, The Ticker was unable to find any mention of a potential $1.2 million valuation.

“The only appraisal we received from the school was for $800,000, and that's what we agreed to pay,” Mawby concurs. “I don't know where the $1.2 million number came from, but I believe it was just invented.”

Mawby also takes issue with the notion that Peninsula Housing bought the SBPS property with the help of investors (“They're lenders, not investors,” he says) and that Peninsula Housing’s use of the land will shift tax burdens onto other Suttons Bay residents.

“This property was not even on the tax rolls when we acquired it, because it was owned by a public school district,” Mawby says. “It’s not on the tax rolls now, either, but as soon as we get sole title to it – which will happen when we are ready to develop it – it goes on the tax rolls, and there will be tax revenue from that. Because we’re a nonprofit, people assume any land we own won’t be taxable. That’s not true. We pay taxes on all properties we own around the county, and we will pay taxes on this.”

The Ticker reached out to Jim White, chair of the Leelanau County Republicans, and he confirmed he is also a leader of CTOLC. White asked that questions be submitted to him in writing, which The Ticker did on Monday afternoon – including queries about how CTOLC is affiliated with the Leelanau County GOP and where the $1.2 million appraisal figure came from. White was unable to respond ahead of press time, stating that, due to travel and other obligations, “the earliest I can responsibly get you detailed written answers would be early next week.”

Petz and Mawby say they’ve had lengthy conversations with White about most of the concerns raised by CTOLC in the Enterprise ad and on the Leelanau GOP website.

“But they continue to repeat inaccuracies, and I'm now ready to call them out: It’s not that they're uninformed; they are just lying,” Mawby says.