By James Hanlon
Leader Staff Writer
The Addison Township Board approved numerous routine items and discussed the 2022-23 budget at the last meeting of the year Dec. 20.

Appointments
Pat Mueller was appointed as an Oxford-Addison Youth Assistance (OAYA) board member. Jennifer Lundy and Erich Senft were reappointed to the Planning Commission with three-year terms expiring Dec. 31, 2024 and Jan. 31, 2025. Joel King replaced Joe Schnur for a partial term expiring Sept. 30, 2022. Rod Blaszyk was reappointed to the Park Committee for a three-year term ending Dec. 31, 2024. Art Burny was reappointed Park Ranger for the same term, ending Dec. 31, 2024.

Hazardous Waste Consortium
The board approved a resolution renewing the North Oakland Household Hazardous Waste Consortium (NoHaz) interlocal agreement for 2022. The township will charge residents $10 to participate in NoHaz events in 2022. Trustee Jacob Newby will continue to serve as the official representative to the NoHaz Advisory Board.

Law Enforcement Services Agreement
The board adopted Oakland County Sheriff’s Office 2022-2024 Law Enforcement Services Agreement with the township. Average rate increases will be 1.82% for 2022, 2.7% for 2023 and 2.78% for 2024.
“The way inflation is going,” Township Supervisor Bruce Pearson said, “that’s very favorable and we certainly appreciate the (county) Board of Commissioners gave us that rate.”

Fire Department Radios
The board approved a Fire Department purchase of 12 APX 6000XE single-band portable radios from Motorola for $83,285, which includes prep and support equipment. The new radios are required by Oakland County as they switch to the P25 Statewide System in 2022. This will ensure neighboring agencies are able to communicate with each other on the same system during emergencies, Fire Chief Jerry Morawski said.

Poverty Exemption Income Guidelines
The board adopted guidelines for poverty exemption and asset test for property taxes, based on updated federal poverty income guidelines. The township has a poverty/hardship exemption application residents can obtain from the treasurer’s office.

Budget Workshop
The board discussed, page by page, a draft of the 2022-23 budget, but no action was taken. Total general fund appropriations are estimated at $1.98 million. Supervisor Pearson said increases are due to the new columbarium, invasive moths and election year expenses.

Wage Compensation Schedule
The board approved an updated wage compensation schedule for township employees, trustees and the fire department. Employees will receive a 4.9% salary increase and a 1% increase for retirement.