City of Romulus accused of stealing court money to cover its payroll

At its regular meeting on March 25, the Romulus City Council considered opting into Public Act 152 for employee healthcare to cut back on its budget costs and seven people got up to protest the action before the votes were taken.
P.A. 152 was passed in 2011. It requires that local units of government place a hard cap on their health care, institute an 80/20 cost sharing arrangement, or opt out with 2/3 vote of the governing body.
After all was said and done, in a confusing vote the council did enact opting into P.A. 152 for active employees, but let retirees alone.
During public comment before the votes, 34th District Court Chief Judge Tina Brooks Green said there has been some conversation on the street that says the city is in trouble because of the building being constructed next door, referring to the new courthouse on the city campus.
Judge Green said in 2013 the court doubled fees for some cases and in 2014 it added fees and this will cover the $17 million bond the city sold to build the courthouse. She said the court pays its part of health care and pensions for all its employees and, “The finance problems of the city should not be laid at the court’s feet.
“We sustain our own employees and pay all of our employees,” Green said. “That the city is in this situation because you had to pass the court bond is blatantly not true.”
D’Sjonaun Hockenhull, a 12-year employee of the court, asked the council to forego implementation of Public Act 152. He said there is an incessant perception that court employees are overpaid for their work.
Hockenhull said the city uses income from the court for its bottom line and if the court would move to another venue, the city could possibly go into state receivership.
“The city misused or possibly stole funds raised by the court just to make payroll,” he said, adding the city has not accepted responsibility, paid the money back, or identified the individual responsible.
The council chairman cut into his remarks to ask him if he was making accusations. He said he was making a statement. Another councilmember urged the chair to let him continue.
Hockenhull said this court is the third- or fourth-busiest court in the State of Michigan and has maintained a level of excellence. He said the court pays its bills and the court is being penalized for the city’s irresponsibility.
He asked how significant it would be if all the court’s fulltime employees withdrew from the city’s insurance group.
Kathy Mecure, president of the union at the court, said police officers also will have to pay $800 a month more for insurance. She said the court covers 144 square miles and sees 180,000 people a year. She guessed the city employees dealt with 5% of that number. She pointed out some city employees got 20% salary increases last year. The court has turned over about $2.5 million to the city each year for the last 20 years, she said.
Mecure said on Oct. 1, 2013 fees for bench warrants, late fees, and show cause were increased and in 2014 a $20 fee for all cases were added to build the court.
Between 2013 and 2017, the court raised $3.4 million which was given to the city to be put in a separate account for construction of the new courthouse, but it was added to the city’s general fund over the years, she said.
She said the $3.4 million, if not used for the courthouse, under the agreement one third of that amount should be split with other municipalities who use the court, but Romulus took 100%.
Besides Romulus, the 34th District Court covers Belleville, Van Buren Township, Sumpter Township, and Huron Township.
“A third-party audit is necessary,” she stated. She asked the city council to opt out of P.A. 152.
Mindy Suchy, vice president of the court union and court employee for 22 years, said the extra $800 a month is “Wow!” for her current health insurance. She said she is a single mother, as she wiped away tears, and this change will bring a tremendously negative morale effect on city employees, police department, and the court.
She said an optional health savings account would require she pay $5,000 for health care before insurance paid anything. She asked the council to opt out of P.A. 152.
Others, urged the council to opt out.
Mayor LeRoy Burcroff said these were “wild accusations by the court,” but he said he would investigate. He said the city funds are audited and the comments about missing money are “very disheartening.”
Mayor Burcroff said the public making statements should be sworn in to tell the truth before speaking.
When it was time to vote on the Mayor’s proposals on health care, his first request was for no action on P.A. 152, which means the city would opt in. A motion made was to deny the no-action request and to opt out of P.A. 152. This only applied to active employees and P.A. 152. The vote was 4 yes, 3 no. This vote required 5 votes to pass, said attorney Steve Hitchcock, so it failed. This means P.A. 152 was accepted.
The second proposal was for hardcap coverage for retirees. No motion was made, so it stayed as is.
A motion not to adopt the third proposal to modify pre-65-retiree healthcare and prescription drug coverage to add hardcap coverage to begin July 1 was made. It was pointed out this motion only takes 4 votes to pass because there is no change in policy. It passed 5-2.
Hitchcock said P.A. 152 comes before municipal bodies every year by law and so it will be back before council next year.
During early discussion, Hitchcock showed a list of municipalities that opted in to P.A. 152 this year, which included Huron Township and the City of Belleville.