Farmington Hills Voters Will Face 1.7 Mill Police and Fire Question

Farmington Hills city council members unanimously voted Monday to put a 1.7 mill public safety request on the Nov. 8 ballot.

The 1.7 mill request was approved after a 2 mill request failed to get the five votes required to pass, with council members voting 4-3 in favor. Taxes on a property with a taxable value of $100,000 would actually drop by about $63, as opposed to a $223 tax reduction without the millage. The 2 mill request would have cut the savings to just under $35.

Brock laid out both scenarios in a presentation that included data about the city's revenues and expenditures five years into the past and five years into the future. He said he thinks the city is on "the precipice" of making a decision to ensure a continued "viable, quality community."

The 2.0 mill proposal, Brock said, would maintain current police and fire service levels, while keeping the city's fund balance at around 10 percent of revenues. The only area where services would be increased, he added, would be in restoring some public safety prevention and education programs axed to balance previous budgets.

Neither of the proposals would erase the city's deficit, but the 2.0 mills would reduce the dip into the city's fund balance and maintain it in the 10 percent range for a longer period of time. Brock said a healthy fund balance is among the factors used in determining the city's bond rating, which is currently AA+.

He pointed out that the city's property tax base has dropped by 26 percent over the past five years, and will drop another 3 percentage points, to 29 percent, over the next five years. Other sources of revenue, including fees and fines, are expected to either decline or slightly increase.

Projections in the overall city budget, made by city finance director Dave Gadja, relied on an average increase of 3 percent through 2016-17. That doesn't necessarily translate into raises in salaries, which are currently frozen, Brock said. Eighty percent of city employees are unionized; those salaries and benefits are negotiated.

Four of city's six negotiated contracts have expired, and the other two are up in June, Brock said. (Officials adjourned to an executive session following the meeting to discuss contract negotiations.) But even negotiating large concessions won't solve the problem, he added.

Cutting salaries 5 percent across the board would result in a $1 million savings, Brock said. However, projected deficits will range from $7.1 million in 2014-2015 to nearly $25 million in 2016-17. While he described the deficits in terms of wiping out the fire department in 2014 and both public safety departments by 2015, council member Ken Massey said that sounded like a "scare tactic," and officials would never let that happen.

"I have to admit, I'm still a little undecided. I'm still a little uncomfortable," Massey said before the votes.

Joseph Gromala, who spoke after Brock's presentation, felt the millage was "premature," and that officials should first gain wage and benefit concessions from employees, as Ford and other companies have done.

"You guys haven't given it the old college try to negotiate with employees and then come back and ask voters for a modest millage," he said. "You guys are saying, let's go the easy way and increase taxes."

Gromala also questioned why the projections assumed a 3 percent increase each year. Brock said that was an attempt to be "realistic" about rising costs for health care, commodities and other expenses. He said the city has in the past drawn down its fund balance to balance the budget.

Mayor Jerry Ellis pointed out that officials have gained concessions from unions, including increased contributions to health care premiums, larger co-pays and deductibles. New employees are being brought on with a defined contribution, rather than a defined benefit retirement plan.

"For the last five years, we've cut, cut, cut. We have no place to go now, except cutting employees, and that means reducing service levels," Ellis said. He said firefighters last year gave up a 3 percent salary increase in an already negotiated contract, rather than see any more staff cut from their ranks.

"Don't say we haven't been tough on people," he said.

"I'm not disputing the value of public service, quality public service," Gromala said. "This is premature in my mind."

Firefighter Jim Etzin, also a resident of Farmington Hills, said as someone "on the tip of spear ... we are taxed and as thin as we dare." He said more and more, the department is seeing "stacked" calls, or multiple calls in one of the city's five fire districts. Service calls have continued to increase, he said, and a majority of patients on medical calls are elderly.

"As we get older as a community," councilmember Randy Bruce commented, "our calls are going to continue to go up."

Fire chief Corey Bartsch said the department responded to 6 percent more calls in 2010, and is on track for another 4 percent increase this year – a "conservative estimate".

Councilmember Michael Bridges questioned whether officials were "chasing revenues," and urged aggressive pursuit of cuts to non-employee expenditures. He, Massey, and Bruce opposed the 2 mill resolution.