During the Van Buren Township financial audit report by Plante Moran auditor David Helisek at the July 7 board meeting, he pointed out calculations show that in 2018 the township may have to pay a $20 million interest payment on the Visteon bonds.
He said the bonds are guaranteed by the Local District Finance Authority (LDFA), but more likely than not the township will have to pay.
He said circumstances change every year, and the situation will be evaluated by the township financial folks on an annual basis.
Supervisor Linda Combs said the board is working on this Visteon problem.
Helisek said the auditors have given an “unmodified opinion” on the total audit of the 2014 fiscal year, “which is the highest level of assurance we are able to give.”
He said the liability to the bond payments have to be noted.
The total general fund revenue for 2014 was $12,486,000, up slightly from the 2013 revenue of $12,283,000.
The property tax revenues, which grew by 1.56% from 2013 to 2014, are expected to dip by .38% in 2015 and grow by 1.78% in 2016.
Expenditures rose from $11,684,000 in 2013 to $12,071,000 in 2014, with $7,862,000 of that going to public safety and also increased attorney fees.
The general fund’s fund balance went from $4,607,000 in 2013 to $5,022,000 in 2014.
Erica Adams of Plante Moran, who led the board through the charts showing the 2014 finances, pointed out there were $2.6 million in transfers from the landfill fund to the general fund.
Also, in the letter to the governing body, Plante Moran pointed out that the post-employment pension and health care liabilities as of Dec. 31 went to $29 million.
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18 Comments
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Is this what happens when we have elected a Supervisor with high school level education? I’m angry because I voted for Combs and she is a major disappointment.
Please vote NO on these new millages and these imbeciles need to figure it out themselves. Why would they ever sign off on such flagrant bonds anyway?
JMeyer, I understand your comments and disappointment in Combs. A FOIA was requested by a resident and given to me. The FOIA, covering her first several months in office, showed Combs was on time only 3 times during this period, and went home early almost daily,.. I graduated in the top 3 in my HS class, and about 1 year college. I had almost 40 years experience in business retail supermarkets. Responsible for the efficient and effective operation of one of Kroger Mich. Meat Departments. My Dept was consistently Number ONE in operations and management and in the top tier of sales for the last 8 years of employment. The reason I state this is to show a college education does not necessarily support good business decisions. The years I was VBT Supervisor 2008 to 2012 were very bad for everyone because of the downturn in the economy. The General Fund was increased by over $1.2 M during that time after I took responsibility for the General Budget. A Supervisor MUST have Management and Leadership capabilities. My average work week was usually 60 to 70 hours weekly. As Supervisor, there were many outside committees as a member I attended. Selling VBT was a priority. Think Menard’s. The original Visteon Bond, and the building was thought to be very overvalued, and the value was corrected in 2010, from an original $350M to $65M with a taxable value of $32.5M. Huge reduction. If Visteon continually refuses to pay and the current lawsuit in resolved in Visteon’s favor, this will cost the homeowner about 6 milles to correct. A home with a taxable value of $100K will pay $600 annually. An article in a recent Crains publication listed the VBT situation as a “caution to other communities” to understand the possible consequences. Every resident should think long and hard about their vote. Background, business experience dealing with payroll, customers, budgets, and responsibility to our residents. Candidates who have only worked in govt. not been fiscally responsible for budgets, and have zero knowledge on business acumen should not be considered for elected positions. Managing a $12M+ government budget effectively and efficiency with the necessary health and safety of our residents is a business.
Paul, I think you are trying to sell your term as supervisor successful? I think had you finished college with a business acumen including Human Resources, you would have learned how to speak to people a little better than you did. You were very condescending and from my observations, the title went to your head.
I think that you did a much better job than Linda Combs. She is the laughing stock of Van Buren Township. I would be embarrassed to work inside the government building, from an out of control police and fire department , bad business decisions (Visteon, etc.) to sleeping at board meetings. This township has become a circus. We desperately need someone with experience AND AN education. Bring on Kevin McNamara.
Anon, my term as Supervisor was successful! The economy was in a horrific downturn, and necessary decisions were made to keep VBT a safe place to live and play. About 16 full time staff positions were eliminated without a single layoff and right-sizing was started. I took full responsibility for the General Budget in mid 2010, after the Recall effort, and made appropriate changes to expenditures to reflect the revenues. Tough hard choices which were necessary to achieve a balanced budget. Some folks were happy, some were not.
I am sorry you feel how you do about my tough attitude necessary to accomplish improvements. This was a tough time and demanded hard decisions. I was and am always courteous to others who are courteous. I do not have a problem with straight, hard face to face discussion, and that is sometimes necessary to let someone know, “ I say what I mean, and mean what I say”.
The Supervisor title did not go to my head. I enjoyed the time in Office, good and bad times. The position was a challenge to me, I did not need the salary to support our family as I was already retired, and I consider the term to be very successful, especially considering the conditions during the term. The General Budget increased by $1.2M dollars, very highly qualified people were added to the Township as Directors and Committee appointments. As a member of many outside committees, county , region, Aerotropolis (now Vantage Port) and SEMCOG, our VBT had responsible and active representation in our region.
Also, Anon, you should not hide behind Anon and use your real name like others. Do not be afraid of your comments. Because of a couple of phrases you used, you gave a clue to your real identity.
Paul
I think you did a fine job Paul. The best thing you did was change the director of public safety. From the things I read and people I chat with that work in PS seems like things have spiraled out of control over there.
Will you be running for another seat on the board or as supervisor?
I say we take the 4 mils from the PS millage and vote to direct it to pay off the bond. Our taxes do not increase and we get this paid off and done with. No need to file bankruptcy and no need to raid the general fund. And the PS department will actually have to live within a realistic budget. Sounds like a win-win all the way around!!
This is what scares me, I don’t want my taxes to increase because of bad negotiations from the township board. I don’t want to pay higher taxes to bail them out, but then I think about what happens if we don’t? Do we lose full time police and fire protection? I just can’t afford to keep giving and giving. If we vote yes, how long before another increase is asked of us?
Has there been any discussion/thought (sorry I am late to the party) on re-financing the loan? I know many communities are doing this now and saving quite a bit of money. Has it even been explored?
Look up Linda combs on Facebook. She plays “Criminal Case” and “Farmville” literally all day long everyday. Does she not have anything to do in while in the office? She is a major embarrassment. I think I would be spending my time researching ways to cut costs and work on the bonds issues, mend relationships than worry about who killed Mr.Peacock in the kitchen with a candlestick.
We don’t have full time fire anyways (except full time police pretending to be fire at an inflated rate). We have part time fire protection. I say we get rid of the waste within the Twp to pay for these bad decisions. When people stop worrying about “got mine” with money and start being concerned about those paying taxes we can have a balanced budget and fix this bond. Just research Allen Park, pretty soon we will have a financial take over too.
If a serious change isn’t made (meaning get rid of all these elected officials) within our township and elect quality candidates that do not have an agenda (Combs), I think the Township could avoid emergency management. If something doesn’t change, by 2017 the township will be bankrupt.
WOW! I just looked at her page, you weren’t joking. Some are after 5 and before 8, but even if you eliminate those (which is a short day for a supervisor in a Twp with some HUGE issues facing it), she is on A LOT during the day.
I just looked at her facebook and I second the WOW! I don’t know how she has so much time. I have a normal job with not as much responsibility and I couldn’t be THAT much. Good grief. I’m sure she’ll delete as soon as she reads these comments. However once its on the internet, it’s really never deleted.
I try not to judge but in Combs’ case I just can’t help but think her job is just that. Just a job, so she has an income coming in and not giving two turds about anything going on around her. Many strong political leaders use Social Media like Twitter and Facebook to spread good messages. Heck, she could use it to educate the residents on the millage and why they are asking for an increase to the renewal. She could dispel rumors about the Visteon Bond debacle. She chooses to play games like Farmville during her working hours as the about commenter mentioned and sleep during important meetings. That is her prerogative, but it pretty much defines the job she has done thus far and it’s less than poor.
Is there a recall petition out there?
No there isn’t a recall petition. It would be all over the paper and you would see information throughout the township. I think a recall is to late at this point in the game. Combs can ride through another year but come election time she might as well pack her office. For that matter the Public Safety Director should probably resign also.
Supervisor Combs looks to the Treasurer for guidance and help during the board meetings, she is unsure of proper procedures and relies on others to get through the meetings. I agree that Paul White did a far better job than this current administration especially with regards to the budget and ways to save money, furthermore he genuinely cared about the township. He not only did his homework and research he also was present and awake for numerous meetings and events to represent VBT. During his 4 year term Mr. White was treated very badly by the senior department director (Combs) and the Treasurer, there was no loyalty or respect for the voters decision. When the Recall failed they still continued with making his term of office as difficult as possible, encouraging the “recall group” to attend board meetings to ridicule and harass. This type of behavior is unbecoming of an elected official and a department director and one wonders what Combs would do if she had a department director that treated her in this way. This “railroading” of an elected official created turmoil within the township rather than trying to get along and create a working relationship they did just the opposite not caring what was in the best interest of the township. Their own personal interests were far more important to them rather than mutual respect that was referred to by Mr. Knowles. Now these two are in charge of the township and the board meetings are very subdued and quiet which is just how they want it, they will tolerate no disagreements at their meetings although they encouraged it in the past. They’ve even changed the rules limiting the time for residents to speak.
Many residents will be voting NO for any increase in Public Safety millage because they do not trust the current administration and want a complete redo on the Police Department spending.
Linda combs only ran for office because she had an issue with Paul White. It’s quite obvious and her lack of progression as a Supervisor is proof of it. Can anyone name one positive thing that she has done for our community since being in office? Anything?
Why should we the taxpayers of Van Buren Township have to pay for the mistakes of the King Team? Of which 3 are still on the Board.