Budget Update: Human Services, Law Enforcement, Judiciary Committees

I hope everyone had a great Labor Day and enjoyed the long weekend. 

Last week, I reported on the initial budget proposal. I also reported what happened in the County Services committee, on which I serve.  I thought that this week, I would report on the other three liaison committees and their budget hearings. Or, more appropriately, I thought I would ask the Chairs of those committees to report (as I wasn’t there!).

Commissioner Todd Tennis, Chair of the Human Services Committee, reports the following:

At the Human Services Budget hearing, we reviewed the Controller’s recommended budgets for the Health Department, Department of Human Services, Cooperative Extension, Mid-South Substance Abuse, the Ingham Medical Care Facility, Legal Aid, and Veteran’s Affairs.  Although cuts were made to each area, department heads hope to continue providing quality services.  Of course, by eliminating 13 full-time positions from these various agencies, maintaining good service while not overburdening county employees will be a tough balancing act. 

The committee also discussed how best to perform the responsibility of County Medical Examiner.  Currently, autopsies are being performed by Sparrow Hospital with Dr. Dean Sienko filling the role of County Medical Examiner (a role he has filled for many years).  With his imminent departure, the Human Services Committee will be taking another look at how best to complete the tasks of Medical Examiner and how to full Dr. Sienko’s very large shoes.

Commissioner Victor Celentino, Chair of the Law Enforcement Committee, reports the following:

The Law Enforcement Committee met on Thursday, September 1, 2010 at 5:30pm.  The following departments were satisfied with the controller's recommended budget as it relates to their respective departments:  Animal Conrtrol, Prosecuting Attorney, Tri-County Metro Narcotics Squad, Office of Homeland Security & Emergency Management, Emergency Telephone-911 millage, and Community Corrections.

The Sheriff requested $19,210.00 be put on the Z-list (officially called the Strategic Initiatives List, which contains $300,000 for priority initiatives) to replace a Deputy position which is funded through a Michigan State Police three year grant.  The grant is set to expire on September 30, 2012, and this Z-list money will continue the position through the 2012 calendar year.  It is the Sheriff's intention to request this position in his 2012 budget. Commissioner Randy Schafer then motioned (which was approved) restoration of the positions by adding them to the Z-list: $100,000 for a Detective and $90,000 for an additional Deputy.  The committee approved the following motion when ranking the Z-list requests: 

   1.  $19,210.00 request to restore the grant funding Deputy position.

   2.  $100,000.00 to restore the Detective position.

   3.  $90,000.00 request to restore a Deputy position.

The committee's recommendations were forwarded to the September 14th Finance Committee meeting.

Commissioner Rebecca Bahar Cook, Chair of the Judiciary Committee, reports the following:

My fellow Commissioners and I have set the following priorities regarding Ingham County's Judiciary to help us guide the development of the 2012 Budget:
 • Provide appropriate sanctions for adult offenders
 • Provide appropriate treatment and sanctions for at risk juveniles
 • Assuring Judicial Processing

Due to the loss of tax revenue cause by the housing crisis, the courts initially requested more money than was available in the county’s General Fund. Members of the courts, after reviewing the Controller’s budget agreed to most of the cuts recommended. The only additional request was from the Circuit Court asking for an additional $50,000 for image scanning of various court files. By allowing this technological update, records can be pulled quickly, allowing the court employees to acquire requested information much more quickly. Members of the Judiciary Committee agreed to put this item on the Z-list for further consideration by the Finance Committee.

Commissioners feel that we are able to maintain the priorities listed above with the approved budget, despite additional cuts to the county’s budget.

I’d like this opportunity to thank the Ingham County Controllers office, our Judges in District, Circuit and Probate Court and court administrative staff for their hard work on helping develop the newly approved 2012 Proposed Budget for Ingham County’s Judiciary Committee. Now, on to the Finance Committee . . .
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These committees, along with the County Services committee (chaired by Commissioner Deb DeLeon), have finalized their individual budgets. The Finance Committee will meet on Wednesday and will consider these four budgets together as one and make any necessary changes. Finance will also consider the requests on the Strategic Initiatives List (called the Z-List) and rank them in the appropriate order. The requests this year are less than the $300,000 budgeted, so it would seem that we will be ableto fund all the necessities…but there are always some surprises.   Check in next week to see the result!

Thanks to Commissioners Celentino, Tennis, and Bahar-Cook for pitching in to help with the blog this week and update readers on these committees!

Fundraiser Thanks, County Services Budget Meeting, 2012 Budget Overview

Thanks to all those that contributed and/or came to my fundraiser for State Representative at Commissioner Penelope Tsernoglou and Steve Ross’ house. We had a great turnout, hit our mark for fundraising, and are close to the goal set for the year! That, combined with the growing list of endorsements and the hundreds of doors already knocked and neighborhood meetings and events attended have given the campaign great momentum!

This week, the Ingham County Commission started our budget hearings. Each liaison committee goes through the recommendations of the County Controller with the Department heads. We have four liaison committees – Human Services, County Services, Law Enforcement, and Judiciary. We also have the Finance Committee, which reviews the proposals in full when the liaison committees are through and puts the budget together before consideration on the Board floor. I serve on the County Services committee and can recount that committee. My other committee is the Finance Committee, which I Chair. Finance will consider the budget in a few weeks.

The County Services committee was relatively easy, all things considered. Not one Department head complained about their budget allotment. I think that is the first time I have seen that in my 9 years on the Board! There were also no requests for funding from our Strategic Planning Fund, also called the Z-List (about $300,000 set aside in the budget for priority cuts to be restored). We had a discussion with the Drain Commissioner about some drains in Leslie and Onondaga and their assessments as well as about rain capacity in the drains and how they were overburdened by the immense amount of rainfall a few weeks ago. In essence, there is a drain that dates back to the WPA days that is not maintained by anyone, and it flooded. That caused about $300,000 worth of damage. The Drain Commissioner is going through the motions now to take over that drain at the request of the residents and is working with them on an assessment. We also discussed the Parks budget with the Parks Director. There are some complaints about the allocation of resources in the budget towards the zoo and that will likely come out in the Finance committee. We also heard public comment from the UAW about the proposed elimination of 13 vacant positions in the county budget (see below). They correctly pointed out that these eliminations will lead to others doing that work and being overburdened. I hope that we will be able to do something about that through the process.

Here is a preview of the 2012 Ingham County Controller Recommended Budget:

The budget is focused on the 2012 budget priorities and the long-term strategic planning objectives established by the Board of Commissioners. This budget would continue to assure accessible health care, support for public safety, assure judicial processing, encourage the use of appropriate sanctions for adult offenders, provide appropriate treatment and sanctions for at-risk juveniles, promote recreational opportunities, and foster economic well being.

The total recommended budget is $193.8 million, a $1.36 million or .71% increase from the 2011 adopted budget, but is artificially inflated because 2012 represents the first year the Delinquent Tax Revolving Fund (DTRF) is included as a part of the overall budget ($4.5 million increase). But for the inclusion of the DTRF, the overall budget would have decreased by $3 million or 1.5 %. The general fund budget is recommended at $71.5 million, a $2.35 million or 3.2% reduction from the 2011 adopted budget. 2012 will represent the fourth year in a row that the general fund budget has declined. The total property tax levy supporting the recommended budget will be 9.5463 mills. The proposed levies for County operations, 911, juvenile justice, Capital Regional Airport Authority, Potter Park Zoo, indigent veterans support, and Farmland and Open Space remain unchanged. The special transportation millage is increased slightly from a total of .4768 mills to .48 mills, due to the 2010 voter approved renewal which goes into effect for the 2012 budget year.

The single largest contributor to the County’s multi-year budget shortfalls is the decline in property tax values. Property tax revenues have traditionally accounted for approximately 60% of the overall general fund revenues. Property values declined for the third year in a row, and will likely continue to decline through fiscal years 2014. The recommended budget assumes that the property tax levy for county general operations will remain at 6.3512 mills. These operating levies will generate $41.34 million, a decline of $1.5 million or 3.5 percent, from the 2011 adopted budget.

In July, the Controller’s Office estimated the general fund shortfall for 2012 at $5.3 million. The shortfall is the difference between projected revenues and what it would cost to fund services at current year levels. Overall revenues were estimated to be $2.8 million below the 2011 amended budget. This includes a decrease of $1.5 million in property tax revenues, a $1.5 million reduction in state revenue sharing, and a $100,000 decline in department generated revenues. Overall expenditures were estimated to increase by $2.3 million in order to cover the cost of current services.

The general fund budget was balanced with a mix of targeted reductions and a $1 million increase in the use of unreserved fund balance. Please note that the solutions do not include the layoff of any county employee.

The solutions include but are not limited to the following:

• Increase in the use of unreserved general fund balance from $1 to $2 million
• Continue the hiring freeze and 8 week hiring delay - $435,000
• Assume a 1% savings associated with employee bargaining concessions - $480,000 general fund and $800,000 overall savings
• Elimination of 13 Vacant FTEs - $521,000
• Re-project Employee Health Insurance Costs - $232,000
• Liability Insurance Decrease in Premiums and Rebate - $208,000
• A $1.2 million reduction in the Health Department’s general fund appropriation
- Attrition savings - $400,000
- Increase Medicaid and Health Plan Management Revenue - $450,000
- Jail medical savings - $100,000
- Other - $245,000
• A reduction in the Parks general fund appropriation - $183,000
• Child Care Fund - Juvenile Delinquency Private Placement savings - $315,000
• Child Care Fund - Foster Care Private Placement savings - $210,000
• A reduction in controllable expenditures across the departments - $460,000
• A net increase in department generated revenues - $56,000

As we look ahead, we assume that property values will continue to decline with a corresponding reduction in property tax collections. Our Controller estimates that property tax collections will decline in fiscal years 2013 through 2014 by an additional $1.5-$2.5 million per year. State and federal revenue sources are also likely to decline, putting even more pressure on the County’s future budgets. Therefore, we will continue to plan ahead and implement long term cost savings ideas in order to get through the next few budget cycles without decimating our program priorities.

Despite all this bleak news, the County’s reserves remain steady. The general fund undesignated fund balance at the end of fiscal year 2012 is projected at $13.8 million and the Public Improvement Fund at $.8 million. The budget stabilization fund should remain at $10.6 million through 2012.

I hope this provides a good picture of the Controller’s Recommended Budget and what County Commissioners will be looking at for the next two months!

Fundraiser, Budget, Ingham Health Plan, Health and Zoo Directors, DSH Payment, Veterinarian

Welcome back to the Schor Blog. Sorry for the two week delay!

First, a political note: I invite everyone to my next fundraiser for my State Representative campaign. It is tomorrow (Thursday) from 5:30 - 7:30 at the home of Commissioner Penelope Tsernoglou and Steve Ross at 1197 Prescott in East Lansing. For more details, go to www.andyschor.com.

Now, on to the County Issues...

At the Board meeting, we were given our Controller Recommended Budget. After months of hearing budget projections, meetings with countywide elected officials and department heads at the County, and discussions of direction for staff to take in drafting a budget we now have a starting document. And because our Controller is the best in the state (nation? world?), this is likely going to be very close to the final product. We will now start on budget discussions, with each committee holding budget hearings and the Finance committee (which I chair) putting it all together and recommending a final product for the Board to consider in October. Should be an interesting few months as we solve a $5.5 million budget deficit.

At the Board meeting, we passed several important resolutions. One resolution we passed authorizes a Public Health Service Agreement for 2011-2012 with the Ingham
Health Plan Corporation (IHPC). For those that don't know, we contract with the IHPC to provide public health services to low income residents of Ingham County. The IHPC amount this year is for services up to $2,603,118. The services include:
- Public Health Nursing
- Adult Dental
- Outreach and Enrollment
- Support for the Ingham Community Health Center Network

The Ingham Health Plan is a tremendous success in providing health care to the uninsured. If you are unfamiliar, go to www.ingham.org and follow the page to the Health Department and you can get all the info. I am very proud of this program and our support for it.

We also transferred funds to the State of Michigan for the purpose of supporting
Disproportionate Share Hospital (DHS) payments to Ingham Regional Medical Center and Sparrow Health System. The federal government allows for an “Indigent Care Agreements Pool” for hospitals which qualify for Medicaid Disproportionate Share (“DSH”)payments and allows them to receive DSH payments under the Indigent Care Agreements Pool so long as: (a) the hospital had an Indigent Care Agreement with a local health care entity, such as Ingham Health Plan Corporation; and (b) the Indigent Care Agreement stipulated that direct or indirect health care services be provided to low-income patients with special needs who are not covered under other public or private health care programs. Both Ingham Regional Medical
Center and Sparrow Health are qualified to receive these special payments.
The Ingham Health Plan Corporation was created in 1998 as a non-profit corporation for the purposes of promoting, arranging, and managing an effective system of health care in a manner which decreases the cost of health care services to the community at large and persons unable to pay for such care. The Corporation also supports certain public health services which are directed at low-income, uninsured persons, including services delivered by the Ingham County Health Department. We transferred up to $3.8 million for the year from the Health Fund to support Disproportionate Share Hospital Payments to Ingham Regional Medical Center and Sparrow Health System.

The Board also passed a resolution calling on the State Legislature to oppose efforts to make Michigan a right-to-work state. After hearing that other counties were providing resolutions (both for and against), we decided Ingham County should weigh in to ensure that our legislators and our countywide association know the opinions of the elected commissioners of Ingham County. There was no discussion on the Board floor, and the resolution passed on a 13-2 vote. The resolution (and all others) can be read here.

We passed a resolution to form a special committee to look at hiring a new Health Director. Unfortunately, our Health Director - Dean Sienko - is retiring. He has been tremendous as a Health Director, and will be missed. We have a world class Health Department due to his leadership, and he will be hard to replace. The task force has a tough job ahead of them. We are also going to have to replace the director of the Potter Park Zoo. We learned that Gerry Brady is retiring and we will need to fill that post as well. Tough times, but new leadership is always an opportunity for new ideas and innovation!

The final resolution I will mention is the hiring of a part-time veterinarian. Ingham County Animal Control has historically contracted for veterinary services at the shelter to examine and treat sick and injured animals and prescribe medications. The annual renewal of the contract has always been tenuous as few, if any, applicants apply. We had persuaded a local veterinarian to apply until a more permanent vendor could be contracted; however, that permanent vendor has eluded us. Each time the position is up for renewal it struggles to attract candidates based
on the wage amount, hours and contract requirements. The current vendor (veterinarian) accepted the bid on a short term basis simply to help the shelter
out. However, due to his busy practice he has expressed his desire to opt out but will continue until a replacement is found. However, he proposed to double the current contract. We couldn't accept that, so we decided to hire a part-time veterinarian (instead of contracting) for 20 hours per week. We included in the job description spaying and neutering of animals and other medical procedures to be required as part of the service conducted at the shelter at no additional cost. Animal Control will have the equipment and facilities to conduct such treatments. In addition to creating a more stable position, it ensures better training of animal care staff by a veterinarian, increases the quality of care, provides much needed veterinary care of the high volume of sick injured and abused animals brought into the county’s animal shelter, and results in long term savings on funds and resources currently spent on injured animal care, surgical, spay/neuter and veterinary costs.

I will remind those that read this blog by getting the facebook email that facebook is eliminating the group at some point. So, if you want to continue to get notifications, please "like" my facebook fan page. You can go here to do it - http://www.facebook.com/#!/andyschor.

I hope you have a great week!

911 Dispatch System Costs, Hiring Freeze, 911 Dispatch Center Ready for Construction

The County Board of Commissioners met last night. While there were several significant issues on the agenda, only one turned out to be controversial.

We considered a resolution that would extend the contract with the company that maintains the county emergency 911 dispatch system. As faithful readers of this blog may recall, several years ago the county approved a new emergency dispatch 911 system that was paid for with 911 millage dollars. The system went from an inefficient analog system to what was supposed to be a much better digital system. We looked at various proposals and, in the end, chose M/A Com to install and maintain the system. Over the course of that contract, many problems arose. There were significant problems with 911 dispatch calls dropped in the southwest part of Lansing, resulting in police officers having to use cell phones instead of radios and in increased staffing needed. The company technically met the qualifications of the contract, and the Board of Commissioners was very upset that M/A Com would not fix the problem without a significant purchase from the county. In the end, the county paid but also received discounted maintenance.

Fast forward to last night. The Board considered a resolution that would extend the maintenance contract with Harris (which was formerly M/A Com). The contract originally proposed by Harris called for a 7% increase in the first year and 3% increases in years two through five. The company’s argument was that they had more equipment to maintain because of the problems that we needed to fix in southwest Lansing. County staff told the company that this amount was too high, and Harris agreed to lower this to 5% then 3% for the balance (for a total of about $1.5 million over 5 years). When this came before the Board in Finance last week, the committee still thought that was too high but the company was only willing to discount this another $15,000.

When it came before the Board last night, I strenuously objected to this amount. The County has had $7-8 million dollar deficits and our tax collections have been going down. We have questioned every vendor about why we should be paying 3% or more when inflation is not at that amount and County revenues are not going up at that rate. I reminded commissioners that Harris received increases of 5.5% over the last two years as part of the current contract, and expressed opposition to the resolution before us. Several Commissioners agreed and we had a good discussion and debate about what we could do to reduce this amount.

During debate staff alerted us that the contract ends on Friday, and if we don’t extend it we would have no one to service the contract for 911 dispatch. That made many of us very mad because it seemed as if we were being backed into a corner and would have to approve this contract. I proposed a shorter renewal time so we could work out a new rate with the company, but logistically that was not possible. I then worked with Commissioner Grebner to craft language that creates a 90-day termination clause, and language that instructs staff to get a better rate from the company. If the company refuses to provide a better rate, we have instructed staff to start a bid process to ask other companies for competitive prices to maintain the system. This passed unanimously. So the county agreed to the contact for now, but will look at others who can provide this service and will change systems if Harris doesn’t come down with the rates. Even though the system now seems to be working, I am again very disappointed in this company and expect that we will revisit this again soon.

In other action, the Board took steps to close our budget gap for next year (2011 calendar year) by passing a hiring freeze. The county currently has a hiring freeze for all positions supported by the general fund. The resolution passed last night will extend that through December 2011, and will include all county positions. Department Heads will be able to request waivers to the hiring freeze when necessary from the County Services Committee. The Controller/Administrator will also have authority to exempt positions from the hiring freeze in cases where positions are funded primarily from non-general fund sources. This resolution will minimize the affect of anticipated position reductions in 2011 and years after, and will free up more county positions for employees that could be laid off. It would also provide more vacant positions to be evaluated for additional permanent position reductions.

The Board also last night passed the final resolution needed to get the new 911 dispatch started for construction by authorizing the Building Authority to contract with the Architect/Engineering (A/E) and Construction Management (CM) Firms to begin the design process for the Ingham County Consolidated 911 Dispatch Center. We also approved $500,000 from 911 Funds for preliminary costs associated with this project. As previously reported, the Ingham County Consolidated 911 Dispatch Center site has been approved to be located on County owned land just west of the CMH property on Jolly Road in Lansing. We expect the project to cost about $5.2 million ($4,000,000 for the building and $1.2 Million to equip the facility and establish a contingency fund). We have also worked out all the legacy cost agreements with Lansing and East Lansing, so it seems that we are now ready to finalize constructions costs through our PLA policy and begin construction. Yay!

Tonight the Finance Committee meets and will finalize the budget to be presented to the Board of Commissioners. I will report on in a future blog when the budget is considered by the full Board. I also have two other committees meeting next week. October is shaping up to be a busy month (and that doesn’t include the election coming up!).

911 Intergovernmental Agreement, 2011 Budget, and Economic Development Through Smartzone

This week, I had three different important county meetings. On Tuesday, the Board of Commissioners met. As I have said before, most of our tough work is done in committee. The Board meeting approved several resolutions, but not much controversial. One important resolution that passed (and not reported on here previously) was an intergovernmental agreement between Ingham, Eaton, Clinton and Livingston counties. This agreement will allow the four counties to combine in purchasing and maintaining new phone technology for the 911 centers in mid-Michigan and to develop virtual backup capabilities. All four counties need to upgrade their 911 phone systems in order to take advantage of internet protocol technology, and all four need to develop emergency backup E-9-1-1 capabilities in the event of primary system failure. Signing this agreement and approving the bylaws allows us to work collaboratively in order to reduce costs and provide for inter-connectivity between counties. It also allows each county to forgo the capital costs of building a physical E-9-1-1 backup center in each county. I had some questions about the makeup of the agreement and bylaws – specifically how decisions are made and how the funding is done – but county staff assured me that the decisions and funding will be done in a fair and equitable way. This agreement will be a good regional tool for savings and efficiency, and I am happy that we passed it unanimously.

The County Services committee held the first of the budget meetings. First it needs to be said that our staff – especially Mary Lannoye (controller) and Teri Morton (budget director) – was able to greatly minimize the impacts of the budget deficit and they need to be greatly commended by the employees and the citizens of Ingham County.

The budget books were handed out on Tuesday, so this there was not much time to read through the extensive budget before committee on Wednesday…but Commissioners and department heads were able to effectively parse and understand the proposals. Every department was happy with their budget allocations in the County Services committee. Not one department head objected to their recommended budget (which is rare). Commissioners did have some questions for some of the department heads, though. I asked our Parks director several questions about the line items in the budget, and he gave good answers. Parks are truly doing a lot more with very little money. I also had issues with our funding of the Tri-County Regional Planning Commission. This is an entity that Eaton, Clinton and Ingham counties all belong to, and it handles land use issues for the region. While I have no problem with their work or staff, I did have a problem with the fact that we are giving them the same $102,000 that we gave them last year. I inquired why we should cut all our departments yet give tri-county the same allocation, and they said that cuts would be matched by other entities and would result in lost matching funds from the federal government. Some money we provide goes to administration, but the bulk of the money goes to services that receive an 80% match, so cutting would lose federal funding. Most Commissioners were satisfied with that answer, but I still believe that we shouldn’t be cutting our own departments yet leaving the regional entities whole. As such, I voted against that one appropriation (I was the only no vote on that part of the budget). The rest of the County Services items passed unanimously. The other committees – Human Services, Judiciary, Law Enforcement, and Finance – will be holding budget hearings over the next three weeks or so.

In addition to serving on official county committees, I also represent Ingham County on the Local Development Financing Authority (also known as the Smartzone). This Authority oversees economic development activities that are a result of dollars that are captured for these purposes. We heard reports from East Lansing staff on the Technology Innovation Center (TIC), which has about 14 entrepreneurial businesses in it (mostly professor or student-run businesses who receive low-cost rent to get their idea off the ground). I am encouraged by the products that we are helping to get to market and the many people who are creating jobs through innovation that we can assist. I was not thrilled, though, that several of the businesses are looking at moving out of town after their lease with the TIC is up. East Lansing staff is trying to assist these entrepreneurs to stay in the East Lansing/Lansing area, but other areas are offering venture capital and appropriate space (i.e. hundreds of square feet of wet lab space) and other incentives that we cannot offer. I hope to bring forth a proposal to rectify that situation…but that is in development and will be reported on in a future County Blog. We also heard from the Lansing Economic Development Corporation staff about the University Research Corridor and the Knapps building project. I am very encouraged by the Knapps project. We did not receive a $2 million grant due to technical problems, but we hope to re-apply for that and get the money. In the meantime, it seems that the developers are still working to get all the appropriate financing and start the reconstruction. Severeal local, state and federal incentives will be used. The goal is to have residential space, incubator space, and retail in the building. It would be a great boon for downtown Lansing, and I am hoping that this can move forward as soon as possible. I have great faith in the Lansing Economic Development Corporation, and I think this will be yet another example of Lansing rebuilding its downtown and drawing young and talented workers and residents back to our city.

That’s it for now. I hope everyone has a great weekend!

2011 Budget Primer: Deficits, Revenues, Expenditures; Final Primary Campaign Update

This week was very quiet for the Board. As such, I would like to devote some time to discussing the budget. County staff will presented it to us at the end of August and early September. As you know (if you are a faithful reader of the Schor County Blog), the county is looking at a deficit of $7-8 million for the 2011 fiscal year, which starts in January. So why is it that we have that deficit? That gets asked often. The easy answer is that we have reduced property values which lead to less tax collections, as well as less interest income. At the same time, we have increasing expenses. That adds up to a deficit. But lets dig into that a bit more.

First let’s look at revenues that the county collects. In 2011, the county is expecting to collect $42.9 million in taxes. We are expecting to receive $9.3 million in intergovernmental transfers (transfers from cities, townships, etc. to the county). County Departments are expected to generate $20.8 million in revenues. We are also planning to use $1 million from our fund balance (rainy day fund). That is a total of about $74 million. All-in-all, these collections are $4.6 million less than the county collected in 2010 ($2.9 million less in taxes, $231,000 less in transfers, $147,000 less in department generated revenue, and $1.3 million less used from the general fund).

For fiscal year 2011, we are expecting county expenditures to be $80.4 million, which is $1.9 million more in expenditures than fiscal year 2010. That is about $6.5 million less in expected revenues than we have in expected expenditures (which includes the already-projected use of $1 million from our rainy day fund).

Why do we have $1.9 million more in expenditures in 2011 than we had in 2010? Here’s why…
1. In 2010 we had 3 furlough days for almost all employees. We have not figured any furlough days into the 2011 budget because we have not yet instructed county staff to negotiate this with the labor unions. That equals an additional $358,000 in expenditures than we had in 2010.
2. There is a 1% pay raise built into county employee contracts for 2011. Most contracts are in the final year of their cycle, so these will all be renegotiated for 2012 and beyond. But for 2011, the agreed-upon pay raise will cost $360,000.
3. We have an increase of $210,000 in employee fringe costs for 2011 (again, as per contracts).
4. The Friend of the Court and Prosecuting Attorney fiscal year change will cost us $185,000.
5. We have not yet implemented any hiring delays or hiring freezes for 2011. We have done that for the last few years, but not implementing those for 2011 would cost $953,000.
6. DHS foster care will cost an increased $253,000. This is due to new state mandates.
7. We always build in $300,000 to our budget for things that were not included in the budget, called strategic planning initiatives.
8. There is a drain tax at large increase from the Drain Commissioner’s office, which will cost $78,000.

We also have some items that will cost less in 2011. They are:
1. State ward cost decreases in the Family Court reduced by $350,000.
2. Community Mental Health reductions of 5%, saving $108,000.
3. Reduced costs for the clerk due to a 2011 being a non-election year for the county, which will reduce clerk costs by $160,000.
4. Debt service reduction savings of $277,000.

Add to this about $80,000 in other random costs, and you have the $1.9 million in expenditures.

So there it is. That is what we are looking at as we start our budget. Now we will see what the recommendations are from county staff to close the gap. I expect recommendations of more hiring freezes and furlough days, and other creative ideas. But we will see. Stay tuned…

Election Update: This is the final election update until the general election kicks into high gear. As you probably already know, I was victorious in my primary election!!! After a vigorous campaign knocking doors, doing mailings, running an absentee voter program, and continued constituent contact, I captured 83% of the total vote in the Democratic primary. Voters were not persuaded by the negative claims made by my opponent and expressed to me, over and over, that they like the job I am doing and want me to continue fighting for the residents of SE Lansing. Thanks to the voters of the 5th County Commission district. I also can’t express enough my deep appreciation for those who helped me on the campaign trail (knocking doors, lit drops, donating, letters to the editor, etc). I take it very seriously that the voters in the Democratic primary have again entrusted me to advocate for them when important county decisions are made. Now I will match up against my Republican opponent. I have met him once, and he seems like a nice and sensible guy. We will compare our records, philosophies, and ideas moving forward, and I am confident that voters will again choose me to represent the district and move Ingham County forward for the next two years.

Community Agency Rankings, Teresa Borsuk, Budget Hearings Begin, and Personal and Campaign Notes

Compared to previous weeks, this week was a quieter week on the Board floor. We passed a variety of important resolutions, but none were controversial.

The Board of Commissioners passed the resolution creating the Community Agency ranking system. I mentioned this last week, but thought I would provide more information. The 2011 Community Agency ranking criteria is as follows, in order of importance:

1. The extent to which the proposal directly contributes to addressing the County’s long-term priority of “Meeting Basic Needs”. Does the proposal provide basic necessities for those in need, such as food, clothing, and shelter or help to provide assistance in obtaining such things as household utilities that are needed by families and individuals?
2. The extent to which the proposal leverages other sources of funding. What other funding sources are being leveraged, including state, federal, other non-profit and private sources? Will this funding be used as match for a larger grant or to leverage other funding?
3. The degree to which the proposal demonstrates collaborative approaches to program and service delivery. What other agencies and organizations are participating in the proposed project?
4. The extent to which the proposal demonstrates creativity and innovation. Does this proposal represent proven “best practices” in its particular subject? Does the program produce measurable results? Has this proposal ever been tried before? If the proposal is not new, then what is the track record of success, has there been a positive impact on the community?
5. The number of years the agency has received County funding (fewer years = higher rating).
6. Timeliness in submitting the proposal. Were deadlines to submit the proposal met to a reasonable standard? Was the proposal complete when submitted?

We also took the time to thank one of our distinguished employees who is retiring. We honored Teresa Borsuk, who served Ingham County for 32 years (most recently in Clerk Bryanton's office). We on the Board worked closely with her, and it was great to hear about her accomplishments as a UAW representative in creating employee training opportunities. Congratulations Teresa!

This week also started the important process of the budget for 2011. As I have mentioned in the past, the Controller first asks Department heads for budgets. In that request, she asks what each Department head can do to cut their budget because we will have a significant ($7-8 million) shortfall next year. After the Controller requests these documents, each Department head provides the information to the Controller. They then have an opportunity to come and discuss this with the committee chairs, members, controller, and budget director. The Law Enforcement committee has already held this meeting, and the other committees (County Services, Human Services, Judiciary) will be doing them next week. After that, the Controller puts together a recommended budget for the Commissioners which is presented to us in August. We then start budget hearings in committees in September and finalize the budget in October or November. We also sometimes have Board Leadership meetings (which are special meetings of the full Board for a specific purpose) to discuss the budget. These are meetings that are more like work-groups with discussion about the specifics. These are meetings where we give direction to the Controller and budget staff on what we think are priorities for her to recommend to us. These meetings, of course, are publicly noticed and open to the public.

On a personal note, I was interviewed this week on the budget situation by Channel 6 news. They focused on the importance to the citizens of Hawk Island county park, and my efforts to ensure that it is not closed or severely cut. You can see the story here. Nice job, Stacia!

On the campaign front, my opponent continued the weekly litany of attacks on me. He said in a letter to the editor that I don't attend neighborhood meetings, and when I do it is only for 15 minutes. To rebut this newest claim, I would first point out that he doesn't know that I do attend neighborhood meetings (I have several in my district) as often as my county commission meeting schedule allows because, as he said in the letter to the editor, he has only lived in the district for 6 months. What he also fails to mention is that he is referencing a meeting I recently had to leave early in order to attend a county commission meeting! So he attacks me because he thinks I don't do my job, then attacks me for doing my job. Of course, he knew why I left early because he was there and heard me tell the neighbors at the meeting that I was going to a county commisison meeting, yet he purposely omitted it in his letter. Interesting. He also says that I have never faced an opponent in any of my elections. Again, he has only been here 6 months so he doesn't know that I faced a very tough primary in my first election. The difference, though, is that my opponent and I ran positive campaigns that year. Jim Kirsch ran a great race and I have tremendous respect for Jim, We both worked very hard in that election and I was priveledged enough to be victorious. This year is the first race, though, that I have faced an opponent using negative campaign tactics against me. Thankfully, it isn't working and the voters are seeing right through it!

Budget Deficit Worsens, Zoo Renewal Begins, Community Agency Process Begins, I am endorsed by the Democratic Party, and My Opponent Slings More Mud!

While we had a busy week in committee, the most important thing that we learned this week is that our budget next year will be worse off than was originally projected. While we had originally been projecting a $5 million budget deficit for the 2011 fiscal year, it seems that is actually going to be $7-8 million.

Our Controller has collected the service base requests from our departments, taxable values, and other revenue projections for the 2011 fiscal year general fund. Based on the new taxable values provided from our Equalization Director, property tax collections are projected to decline by over $2.5 million. So calculating these all together, the deficit is $7-8 million. The Controller is assuming recommending using $1 million from the unreserved fund balance (rainy day fund), so we will be looking at having to solve a $6-7 million problem when we do the budget in August.

In County Services, we began looking at a ballot question for a renewal of the Zoo millage at .41 mills. As you probably know, a few years ago the voters overwhelmingly passed a millage for the zoo and it was moved from city control to county control. I was on the special committee that drew up the contract between the city and the county and developed the structure of the new management. There were many issues we had to work out, including how to move employees from the city to the county and still preserve their wages and benefits, retirement for employees, who owned the equipment, etc. But after many hours of hard work, we resolved all these issues. It was a great cooperative effort and a success for keeping the zoo open and alive in Lansing. We were able to maintain a great regional asset which draws people to our area. The millage would renew the funding for the zoo. We had a few legal questions about the language so we referred them to the County Attorney. I expect the language to be finalized at the next County Services and Finance committee meetings so we can get this on the ballot for the November general election.

In Finance, we took up a resolution that would fund community agencies and allow our staff to rank the incoming requests. We had about $300,000 for this last year, but are expecting much less this year. The Finance committee agreed with the Human Services committee that the rankings need to include a variety of factors, including basic needs that include food, shelter, etc. Once this resolution passes the Board on Tuesday, the information packet will go out to community agencies on Wednesday and they will be able to apply for the limited funding that we will have. The requests will be scored by our Controller and staff, and the recommendations will be made as part of the budget process in October.

Campaign Update: I am honored to have received the unanimous endorsement yesterday of the Ingham County Democratic Party. I am running for the Democratic nomination on August 3rd, and the county Democratic Party has recognized my positive record for my constituents. This is an unusual honor, as it takes ¾ of the voting members to secure an endorsement. I have also been endorsed by every Democratic member of the County Commission, every Countywide official (Sheriff, Prosecutor, Drain Commissioner, Clerk, Register of Deeds, Treasurer), State Reps Bauer, Byrum and Meadows, and Sen. Whitmer. My opponent, on the other hand, is being supported by Republican County Commissioner Steve Dougan. That is an interesting twist, especially as my opponent is running against me in the Democratic primary and claiming to be a Democrat.


On the negative side, this week my opponent put up a website accusing me and my Democratic colleagues on the County Commission of “seeking retaliation and intimidation of employees who speak up”. This is just the latest in his long list of blatant lies and distortions of me and my record. It is also a ruthless attack on the entire Democratic Caucus.

The TRUTH is that employees come to me regularly to discuss issues and for help, and I invite this dialogue. I have had county deputies, health department employees and other employees come to me for assistance with problems. As County Services Chair, Human Services Chair and Law Enforcement Chair I have always invited the opinions of our county employees. I invited in for testimony numerous county deputies on the road patrol issue, many UAW employees on health care issues, etc and I have NEVER sought punishment or retribution on any of them for speaking up. This is just another attempt by my opponent to confuse and anger voters when no actual issue exists. After knocking hundreds of doors, though, I am convinced that the voters won’t be fooled and are insulted by his campaign.

Delaying Judgeships and Costs

Board of Commissioners - 3-9-10

This week, we had a full County Board of Commissioners meeting where we had to decide if we wanted to ask the Legislature to delay the filling of a judgeship or not.

Why would we do that?

Well, anyone following Ingham County government (or most any elected board) knows that Ingham County government is hurting for dollars to provide the expected services. You want road patrol? Or health services? Or parks? Or Animal Control? Well...we need to have the dollars to fund them.

One of the creative solutions that was suggested was to not fill a judgeship for 2 years. Due to age limitations, Judge Giddings cannot run again. So we thought we might try to hold that seat open for 2 years. The state pays the judge salary, but we could reduce the support staff and the savings were estimated at about $300,000.

In the Finance Committee last week, we had a good discussion about this with Chief Judge Collette. As expected, he opposes this move. He raised lots of good points. He said this would create a backlog of cases; this would limit access to justice; this would compound the potential closure of the jail post. These were all good arguments, but we are cutting everywhere and we told him that the Judiciary needs to be included in that.

Fortunately, Judge Collette said that he is willing to entertain cuts. He will look at the Judiciary and see where they can provide savings to the county. That was great to hear. We don't want to cut the courts, but neither do we want to cut the sheriff or the prosecutor or animal control or parks.

In the end, we agreed to not move the resolution calling for the moratorium on filling the judgeship and Chief Judge Collette committed to providing budget reductions for the Circuit Court. I think everyone won on this and it will help as we start to look at reductions.

In other Board action, we approved several other resolutions including one moving forward the consolidation of the county 911 to one center. We are hopeful that this will lead to cost savings down the road. That resolution passed unanimously.