Council OKs balanced 08-09 budget

Four job slots cut, court withdraws request for new employee

Dearborn - The Dearborn City Council Monday night unanimously approved the general budget for the 2008-09 fiscal year with a 6-0 vote. Council member Doug Thomas was absent from the meeting.

Finance Director Jim O'Connor presented the balanced budget to members of the council for the second time in less than a week Monday night, after he gave details of the budget at a budget public hearing Thursday night. Revenues for the upcoming fiscal year are projected at $105.3 million, while expenditures are slated to be $105.4 million. Salary, wages and benefits will make up about 75 percent of the expenditures.

Council President Tom Tafelski said to balance the general fund budget, $137,036 will be taken from the city's fund balance. Last year, $4.5 million had to be taken from the fund balance, O'Connor said. That fund balance, after the $137,036 is put into the general fund, will sit at about $35 million, including reserved and unreserved funds, O'Connor said, adding that the fund balance collects interest and can be used in the case of an emergency.

By law, the city has to submit a balanced budget to the state of Michigan, Tafelski said, causing the need for that $137,036 to be moved from the fund balance into the general fund.

Four full-time positions were eliminated to help stabilize the budget, bringing the number of positions cut since 2001 to 137 — or 16 percent of total city posts, O'Connor said. Moving the city engineering division of the Department of Public Works from the general fund to the water fund aiding in balancing the budget, as well, O'Connor said, along with $2.4 million in one-time transfers from the Death Benefit Fund ($1.65 million) and $750,000 from the Worker's Compensation Fund.

Total revenues are slightly less than the 2007-08 fiscal year, O'Connor said, adding that most of the revenue categories decreased with the biggest decline coming as a result of moving the engineering division.

Property taxable values total $4.6 billion with a slight decline, O'Connor said. If the market conditions and market values continue to decline, he added, there will be a noticeable impact on the 2010 budget.

Property tax and related sources of revenue decreased .06 mills, O'Connor said, adding that taxes represent 68 percent of the city's total budget. Personal property tax revenue declined for the ninth year in a row — from $16.7 million to $9.45 million.

For the upcoming fiscal year, the city will make no contribution to Camp Dearborn, O'Connor said, but that will not put the Milford-based site in a financial bind, he added.

Most departments, such as police and fire, operate with reduced staff levels, Tafelski said. On Monday, 19th District Court Administrator Gary Dodge made his case for an additional probation officer at a salary of around $41,000.

That request has since then been taken off the table, Tafelski said. The council president said court officials rescinded that request due to the fact that city officials have asked several other departments to "work with what they have and stay within the budget."