Officials review proposed budget at Saturday hearing
Need for new city vehicles, staff and police drones highlighted
Warren department heads and Mayor Lori Stone met with the City Council on Saturday to answer questions about their budget needs for the next fiscal year.
Line items for discussion included staffing, city vehicles and upgrades to technology.
The Warren Police Department is requesting funding for high-tech drones similar to what the city’s fire department added this year as well as adding a fourth captain to oversee special investigations and other specific units.
The Warren Police Department currently has 25 vacancies and with the number of officers eligible for retirement this year, that number is expected to increase to 35 by the end of the year. Much of the discussion about the police budget involved ensuring that the city has an efficient hiring system in place and the ability to attract new officers.
“A good candidate is going to have several job offers,” said acting Warren Police Commissioner
Charles Rushton. “There are cities that pay close to what we do and we need to make sure our hiring process is streamlined.
“It is no secret that hiring is a problem for police departments nationwide.”
Councilman Hal Newnan asked if the Warren police budget request includes the hiring of a social worker and the addition of more community policing programs. Capt. James Wolfe told officials the department has applied for a grant to fund a social worker and that with full staffing, community policing programs could be expanded.
City Clerk Sonja Buffa, who attended Saturday’s meeting via Zoom because the clerk’s office was open for early voting, explained her department’s need for a new van to transport voting equipment and materials that are in storage to city hall and vice versa. Buffa said the city van currently used by her department is from 1998 and is at the point where repairs are required frequently and the vehicle is unreliable.
“A new van that is not going to stall on the side of the road is important for election integrity,” said Council President Angela Rogensues.
Library Director Oksana Urban gave an update on the construction of a new library at Underwood Park for which the City Council appropriated $2 million in American Rescue Plan Act funding two years ago. Urban said an architectural firm has been chosen, a contract is being notified and plans for the library will come before the City Council for approval probably in July.
“Once Council approves the plans, ground can be broken,” Urban said.
The property maintenance department plans to add six full-time inspectors. The city currently has three full-time inspectors and plans to transition six parttime workers to full-time status. While the inspectors budget will increase, the budget for part-time inspectors will decrease. The proposed overall budget for property maintenance inspection is $3.9 million.
An in-depth discussion of a proposed 7.5% increase to water and sewer rates helped the City Council understand the need for $20 million in water infrastructure replacement and a $100 million to remove the wastewater treatment plant’s aging incinerator.
“Cities like Highland Park and Flint have taken the easy way out and they have suffered for it,” said Stone. “We want to be fiscally responsible.”
The city plans to use bond funding for $20 million in sewer and water line replacements, but approximately $1.5 million will go toward paying back the bond debt each year that would be funded by 3% of the proposed increase. The remainder of the increase would go toward building savings for capital improvements at the wastewater plant.
“I understand that it is needed but it is a big chunk to throw out to people for an increase,” said Rogensues.
Lafferty requested the administration provide alternatives to a 7.5% increase this year and explain how spreading that increase over three years would affect not only the water and wastewater departments, but the engineering department’s road construction plans.
The current proposal would raise the water bill of a family currently paying $90.41 per month to $97.19 per month.
“We are constantly getting taxed and the seniors
can’t afford it,” said Councilman Gary Boike. “I understand why this has to be done but there are bills in the house that if passed will raise water rates and there is always the possibility of the Great Lakes Water Authority raising rates.
“It all adds up and it a lot.”
It was announced during the Parks and Recreation Department’s presentation that Dino Turcato is no longer the director of the department. Public Service Director David Muzzarelli said Turcato retired on Friday and handled the bulk of the presentation.
Mayor Stone recommended a $5.8 million budget for Parks and Recreation that includes $30,000 for capital improvements to parks, the Warren Community Center and Owen Jax Community Center.
“The department has barely any fund balance so we are going to have to look to other methods of funding capital improvements, such as grants,” said City Controller Richard Fox. “Parks and Recreation has never had the money to make these improvements and upgrades so something that could be considered down the line is some kind of parks millage to help with the funding.”
The second round of budget hearings gets underway at 6 p.m., Monday, April 15 in conference room A of the Warren Community Center.