Recently, the Van Buren Township Board of Trustees spent two full days hearing requests from departmental directors and discussing the budget for 2012, which must be balanced and passed by the end of this year.
Trustee Phil Hart did not attend the workshops since he was out of town.
After completion of the workshops, Supervisor Paul White will adjust the budget he has prepared, taking into account the board’s suggestions at the workshop. Then, he will present a revised budget to the board for consideration.
The budget paperwork showed the 2008 actual general fund budget for VBT was $14.4 million, dropping to $14.2 million in 2009, $13.1 million in 2010, an amended $12.9 million in 2011 and a proposed $13.7 million for 2012.
The first day of the budget workshops was Wednesday, Oct. 12, when the police department was first on the agenda.
Here are some of the items from the discussions:
• The police department wants two new officers to replace the two lost in the last few months. Two others retired last December.
• Clerk Leon Wright said the township will provide services the residents are willing to pay for – four-beat or five-beat patrols.
• Trustee Jeff Jahr said the Public Safety Committee should be consulted on what level of services the public wants. Also, a presentation to the committee would be a dress rehearsal for the director’s presentation to the township board.
• Clerk Wright said it’s time the board start looking at its overall budget – including the unreserved fund balance – and stop trying to hoard it.
• Supervisor Paul White said he has anxiety over adding any jobs because he doesn’t know if the economic slide is over. He said, “God bless VBT for having EQ and Waste management… our service would be reduced by one-third without them.”
• Trustee Al Ostrowski said, “We need to take the advice of our professionals and if we don’t take their advice, we don’t need them.” He referred to Director McClanahan’s request for two new police officers.
• In response to McClanahan’s statement that the traffic unit not only pays for itself, but generates money for the township, Treasurer Sharry Budd said the traffic unit is not paying for itself right now.
• Treasurer Budd asked that White take “Camp with a Cop” off the budget since it hasn’t been done for years. “One year we got money [donations] and had to give it back,” she said.
• When asked what “contracted services” were, the board was told there is a charge for boat house security, background on suspects, $10,000 to $12,000 for CLEMIS, and charges for housing suspects in the Wayne County Jail.
• Three new patrol cars are scheduled to be purchased, with maintenance charges extra because police cars can’t get warranties.
• Treasurer Budd said she wouldn’t make a commitment on two new police officers until after the November election. White said, actually, the millage would be for beginning of the 2013 year. Trustee Jeff Jahr said, in response to McClanahan’s question of when he can hire two officers, that this is just a discussion. “It would be in next year’s budget. If people vote and say they don’t want to spend four mills, we can’t be going out on a binge … this may include going back and asking them [voters] again.”
Under the Dispatch part of the discussion was the following information:
• There has been some forced overtime which caused a “small level of frustration” for disptachers in this high-stress job, according to Lt. Ken Floro, who supervises dispatch. He said they are making plans for a new generation of 911 software at a cost of $300,000 and they will be looking for alternative funding.
Under the Animal Control part of the discussion, the following statements were made:
• The budget went slightly over because of wages for unscheduled work. There was an increase in contracted services because of a dog bite and the dog had to be impounded at the Humane Society while the criminal case proceeds. Once the case is over they expect repayment.
• Utilities of $2,500 for the closed animal control facility has been charged to ACO even though it isn’t used by ACO. The utilities will be charged to building and grounds and the building winterized and the utilities shut off. A kennel is set up in the police department sallyport for holding dogs before transport to the Humane Society.
Under the Fire Department discussions was the following information.
• Chief Darwin Loyer wants to hire 12 more paid-per-call fire fighters next year, which affects his wages and training line item. He needs to pay mentors to train the new officers, which increases the cost.
• Chief Loyer said there are shift shortages now because people are getting burned out. He said four of his fire fighters got full-time jobs so their shift time is cut down. One went to Georgia. Green retired. One went to Las Vegas, but will be back. He said he has 36 officers now including the probationary officers just hired, but needs 68 paid-on-call to cover the shifts.
• Trustee Jahr said there are occasions where the township is not providing two fire fighters at each fire hall and he has a problem with a fire fighter working alone with equipment and working out. “One guy cannot respond to a fire alone,” he said. Jahr said the township represented to the public that it was maintaining 24/7 duty crews at each station. That was the representation to ISO, too, he said.
• “As far as two people, we cannot force people to work,” said Chief Loyer, noting they can only work 36 hours per week according to contract. “When there are only three people, the decision was made to not shut down one station … If the south side responds with one, the north side responds, too.” He said that for any fire, the whole stations are called out. He said one person can bring a fire engine and start preparations to fight the fire.
• Chief Loyer said the ISO rating study is still under way. He said they look at every structure fire — every building fire and car fire — and the average number of personnel responding, and they determine a score. He said VBT has had an average of eight, which is good. It doesn’t affect the ISO if a station is shut down, he said. The response time is figured when the first engine arrives. “I don’t want you to get defensive,” Jahr said to Chief Loyer when he started getting defensive. “I try not to,” Loyer said.
• “When did we stop hiring fire fighters?” Clerk Wright asked. “We have to continue to hire. You’ll continue losing people to full-time jobs. We should never stop hiring.”
• Treasurer Budd said there is an outstanding $15,000 invoice for work on the Princess Laura that sunk in Belleville Lake. “If it’s paid, it’s going to wash,” she said.
• The board questioned the physicals at $335 each for 36 people, as requested by Chief Loyer. He has written a grant to FEMA for a health and wellness program and he wants to start such a program and the physicals are a start. White said he didn’t think it was the township’s responsibility to take care of the part-time fire fighters’ health program. When it was pointed out the police officers do not get yearly physicals paid for by the township, Loyer replied, “You want us to carry guns?”
• Jahr said physicals were part of the collective bargaining discussion and shouldn’t be put in the budget when they haven’t reached a contract agreement. “But, I don’t want a fire fighter falling off a ladder with a heart attack,” he said.
• Loyer said he wants $28,500 for scheduling/payroll software since the way they do it now causes problems. He said he contacted seven companies and although this doesn’t do everything they need, it’s close. He said they are trying to streamline the system. Jahr said it shouldn’t be put in the budget until it has been presented as a proposal to the board and the IT people have looked at it. The software may have to be designed for this department alone, since the way things are done here is unique.
• Plans for Loyer’s requested $60,000 Emergency Operation Center were discussed at length. White said Canton has mutual aid and a mobile center that could be used and $60,000 is a luxury with big screen TVs and additional computers. White suggested the proposal should go to the Public Safety Committee for input.
In the discussion on the Supervisor’s Departmental budget on Oct. 13, the following information was discussed.
• The Public Safety Administrative Assistant Pam Fleming’s wage was proposed to go from $37,800 to $40,000 because her wage was several thousand dollars below an AFSCME clerk, White said. “Here we go again,” Jahr said. “You should be talking to your board.” He said White is opening Pandora’s Box by giving wage increases to some, when others have wage freezes. Directors haven’t had pay increases in three years, Jahr said.
• White said Treasurer Budd asked for a $5,000 wage increase for her deputy Sean Bellingham because of the additional duties he has undertaken in doing the water and sewer budget and the raise was enacted a couple of months earlier. Budd said that came from former DPW Director Todd Knepper and new director Tom McDonald because McDonald did not have the expertise to do the budget. Budd said it was not her idea and White said it was.
• Jahr said he feels the board was cut out of these decisions and it is not slighting to him, but, “Cutting out the board cuts out valuable ideas.” He said giving raises to five out of 30 salaried employees without having standards and procedures in place is just looking for trouble. There are five people who already have been told they are getting raises and White has put them in the budget. “I recognize I’m irrelevant…” Jahr said, referring to his place in the 4-3 split board. “I think you’re putting us in a very difficult position, just giving raises to those you feel deserve raises … without performance reviews … If we’re going to go to a system of merit pay, that’s different … as soon as you start picking … you open Pandora’s Box… If we’re going to hold the line except for our favorites … When you’re telling the union you’re not going to get raises … other people do … I don’t want to be the Grinch Who Stole Christmas, but I think you’re very wrong… If A gets a raise because he/she is working hard, it insinuates B isn’t … It plays havoc on morale around this place…”
According to an informed source, the five getting raises are Public Safety Administrative Assistant Pam Fleming, Deputy Clerk Kathy Cline (about $1,500), Parks and Recreation Director Jennifer Wright ($56,000 to $57,000), Senior Director Lynette Jordan ($46,000 to $47,000), and Clerk’s Office Accounting Coordinator Verne Morse, $1,000 raise, a total of some $7,000.