Crime & Safety

Farmington Residents Raise Questions About Dispatch Proposal

Residents at a Monday night meeting told officials they oppose contracting with the City of Farmington Hills for dispatch and inmate housing services.

Residents peppered Farmington officials with questions Monday night, during a public meeting on a proposal to contract for dispatch and inmate housing services with the . 

Held in the auditorium, the meeting drew about 80 people, but opponents of the move said they could easily fill the auditorium if they had additional time. Officials announced the meeting two weeks ago.

More than 25 questions were raised over the accuracy of budget projections, the terms and amount of the contract and why the issue isn't being decided by voters. Residents also expressed concerns over the loss of safety and security within the community.

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"I believe the bottom line here is our safety is a sacrificial lamb," business owner Karen Gara said. 

Barb Montgomery said having a local dispatch is "part of our feeling of community and small town America".

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City manager Vince Pastue recapped the proposal, which is posted on the city's website. He said the $260,000 contract would save the city $100,000 annually. (The first year's savings would be absorbed by costs for early retirements or layoffs of the city's five dispatchers.)

Pastue said he brought the proposal forward as a way to cut costs with a minimal impact on services to residents. He detailed grim budget projections. Retiree health care costs are expected to skyrocket to over $1.2 million in 2017-2018, driving an overall budget deficit of $2.13 million that year, assuming a continued 3 percent loss in property values for the next five years. 

Residents argued those figures were too pessimistic, but even a more optimistic projection with property values flattening and showing a slight increase would result in the city running out of funds in the same time frame, Pastue said. 

He stressed the dispatch proposal is not a "silver bullet". "We're looking at a couple of things to reduce the cost of our retiree health care," he said. Over the past several years, Pastue added, the city has cut 12 percent of administrative positions, all employees have taken a 5 percent pay cut and are now paying more for health care. 

"But there isn't going to be one specific action that will be the answer," he said. "It doesn't end with this. What this does is it buys us time ot look at some other alternatives. We don't want to find ourselves in a crisis situation." 

This is the first of two reports on the Monday night meeting. 


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