Challenging the appearance of disinterest in Clarkston’s 2007-2008 proposed budget’by community and city council members both’Councilman and budget committee member Cory Johnston delivered a bleak outlook on the city’s financial future.
At June 11 public budget hearing, attended by two residents, Johnston warned that the city will face economic ruin unless the council begins to take a careful look at the numbers and plan for the long term.
Councilman Bill Rausch advised Johnston to ‘be thankful? for a shortage of comments regarding the city’s shrinking budget.
‘I’m not thankful,? Johnston snapped. ‘I’m actually quite upset. I was quite upset with last year’s budget because we didn’t do anything and it came up to the day we voted and (City Manager Art Pappas) said it was too late to make changes, but we would address it later in the year. We never did.?
Johnston acknowledged he was as much at fault as the other six council members, but said the process needs significant improvement.
‘We’re going broke, it’s that simple,? he said. ‘And there is no plan to do anything about it. We need to either raise revenues or go beat on Jennifer’s door and say ‘what are you going to do for small communities???
Referring to Michigan Governor Jennifer Granholm, Johnston said he didn’t hope for much help from Lansing.
The city will operate on an anticipated budget of $776,532 during the coming fiscal year.
Johnston, a first-term council member, reiterated worry that revenues have decreased by about $119,000 over the last four years, while disbursements over the same period dropped a disproportionate $88,000.
Based on those numbers’an average of $30,000 in lost revenue per year over the four-year span’the city managed to cut expenses by about $22,000 from each year’s budget to compensate.
Although Johnston said he found the feat ‘amazing? and ‘incredible,? he also warned such a trend could not continue.
‘We will be broke,? he said. ‘We will be bankrupt and the township can pick us up for a penny on the dollar. There has to be some planning.?
Longer-term budget preparation, said Johnston, who prepared a four-page, 23-point list of possible cuts and increases to the city’s administrative, police and DPW expenditures, is crucial to the city’s economic survival.
‘We have no plans for anything after next years budget at all,? he continued. ‘We know there are expenses coming up, but we haven’t addressed them. We’ve ignored our charter requirements, and we’ve ignored ordinances and laws where we’re allowed to charge for permits and fees.?
Codification’collecting, restating and arranging laws, ordinances or other guiding principles into a systematic order’Johnston said, is another issue needing council’s attention.
The process is costly and has not been completed in Clarkston, although the city charter calls for codification 3 years after incorporation and every 10 years thereafter.
The city incorporated July 1, 1992.
‘We said we don’t have the money for it,? Johnston told the council. ?(But) the charter requires it. If we can ignore our charter because we don’t have the money, we can do anything we want because the charter doesn’t mean anything. I don’t know where it stops.?
City Attorney Thomas Ryan disagreed, however, stating his opinion that ordinances not yet codified were still quite valid.
‘Nobody is trying to violate the charter,? he said. ‘The charter requires us to (codify) within three years, (but) we never had the money to do it. It doesn’t impact the legality of the ordinances.?
Ryan, who noted the service typically costs between $10,000-$20,000, said the city should plan to codify at some point.
‘It would be nice to do it someday, but we’re not picking and choosing,? he said. ‘It’s a directory, not a mandatory issue in my opinion. That’s what I said 15 or 16 years ago when it came up, that’s what I’m telling you today.?
Clarkston Mayor Sharron Catallo, who sat on the budget committee, agreed city expenses must be prioritized.
‘We run tight on everything,? she said. ‘I’d like to see everything codified but we’re a really small community, there are certain things we’re going to have to get to in time. I don’t care what the charter says about that. We can only do so much.?
Earlier in the meeting, Catallo pointed out the budget committee may have inadvertently neglected to budget funds owed to Independence Township ‘about $15,000’for 6 months of midnight-shift police services from the Oakland County Sheriff’s Office. Such an oversight would reduce the city’s fund equity from $17,000 to a mere $2,000.
Catallo noted that although she would like to watch city coffers fill with funds for police vehicles and other large expenses detailed by Johnston, such a banking of cash was not likely to occur any time soon.
‘They’re all good things, and they’re all things we know about,? she said in reference to Johnston’s budget considerations. ‘It’s just that in our every day running, some of those things don’t matter as much as others. We try to get what we can out of what we have. It’s very difficult.?
Councilman Dan Colombo also disagreed with Johnston, contending Johnston’s ‘the-sky is-falling? warnings were unnecessary.
‘It’s like yelling fire in a movie theater,? said Colombo, who is currently serving his fifth, perhaps final term on the council. ‘You don’t do it. Even if there is a fire, you say ‘OK, let’s contain it in one area and get the people out orderly. We don’t want to create mass hysteria.?
Colombo said he feels the city is ‘above water? and in comparably better shape than other municipalities, both locally and nationally, who have been forced to make drastic cuts to departments and staff.
‘We do a remarkable job stretching the dollars we do have,? he said. ‘There isn’t any community that gets the services we provide for the same dollar.?
After 10 years on the budget committee, Colombo said, he’s familiar with the process and doesn’t say a lot because ‘there isn’t much to say.?
‘I have a problem with people who think they can come in their first year and make that big of an impact without knowing the background,? said Colombo, noting his view that the small city is non-conforming by definition. ‘If Art (Pappas) tells me we’re going broke, I’ll worry. He’s on top of it, he sits with the auditors and he knows what’s going on.?
Still, the hard numbers remain.
‘We have balanced the budget by taking $20,000 out of it every year,? said Johnston. ‘I don’t know how long we can keep doing that. Wages go up, gas goes up, park maintenance goes up, the cost of maintaining our buildings goes up. I’m appalled that nobody has addressed this but me.?
The city council will vote on the 2007-2008 proposed budget at the June 25 meeting.