Road Commission Legal Opinions Released, Locals and Civil Rights, Domestic Partner Benefits, Zoo Director, Zoo Door Safety, Political Stuff

Welcome once again to the Schor blog!

This week, I only had a full County Board of Commissioners meeting. As has happened for the last few weeks, we had public comment about the road commission. After that, we considered a few controversial resolutions.

First, we considered the resolution authorizing the release of attorney/client privileged opinions. The resolution allowed for opinions regarding electing road commissioners and complaints from road commission employees to be released. After hearing from some folks about not knowing the legal definition of malfeasance and misfeasance, I offered an amendment that added the legal opinion regarding how to remove a road commissioner to the list of opinions to be released. My amendment passed unanimously, as did the final resolution releasing all three opinions.

We also considered two resolutions dealing with state legislation. I explained these last week, so I will briefly recap. The first resolution opposed legislation that would prohibit locals from passing regulations that are stronger than the state Civil Rights Act. The moist obvious example is that some local communities pass protections for sexual orientation, which is not covered in the state Civil Rights Act. Other examples include East Lansing's regulation protecting people of non-families or Lansing's housing regulations. Commissioner Grebner explained that locals protect vulnerable individuals that are not in the state act. Commissioner Vickers said that he opposes this because he thinks that all communities should be the same. I disagreed and said that this is about differences in communities and local control. The resolution passed 14-2 (Commissioners Dougan and Vickers opposed). The second resolution called for the Governor to veto the bill eliminating domestic benefits for public employees. Several entities, including Ingham County, allow for domestic partner benefits to cover roommates and others of county employees. This is the same as many private companies. Commissioner Vickers said that there is a $600,000 price tag for the state to do this. Commissioner Tennis replied that this would be far less than the amount to cover married families, yet they are covered without complaint. I also reminded everyone that this is not just about the state, but would affect Ingham County's policy. This resolution passed 13-3 with Commissioners Vickers, Schafer, and Dougan opposing them.

We also considered a resolution which authorized a contract with Sherrie Graham to be the interim zoo director until a new director is found. She would start immediately to assist Gerry Brady, but wouldn't be paid by the county until January when Brady retires officially. Negotiations are still happening regarding pay, so that will come in a separate resolution. Commissioner Dougan was the only person to oppose this.

The last controversial resolution that we considered authorized an increase in the contract to install a new feline shift door. Apparently, the bid packet was incorrect so all that bid on this project bid on something that is more expensive than expected. The resolution approves no more than $30,000 for the construction company that won the bid. While many commissioners had problems with this, we learned that the blame goes to the architect that came up with the bid specs and not the constriction company. In fact, even with the $30,000, the winning bidder is less than the second lowest bidder. There was discussion about re-bidding this, but the doors need to be installed by December 9th when the new lions and tigers arrive at the zoo. We do not want to put zookeepers at risk while we re-bid this, so most agreed that safety is more important than re-bidding this (and likely paying more anyway). This passed 15-1 with Commissioner Dragonetti being the only opposing vote (and he said he was opposing this as a philosophical objection).

Finally, in announcements I announced that I had drafted and introduced a resolution to dissolve the Road Commission Board if the Legislature passes bills to allow us to do this. My resolution would dissolve the Board and bring the operation in-house and under the control of the County Administrator and County Commissioners. The Lansing State Journal had a good article on this. The Legislature is now discussing these bills (I believe they passed the House today) and this is now potentially an option for us. I look forward to discussing this as an option when we discuss the road commission in the County Services committee either on November 15 or 29 (a special meeting).

On a political note, congratulations to all those who were victorious on Tuesday in the local elections. And thanks to all those that ran but were not successful. Running for election is hard, and I think the Cities of Lansing and East Lansing will be well served for the next four years. Additionally, the Lansing and East Lansing School Boards should see new blood that will provide great new and fresh ideas. Now that the local elections are over, my focus will be on my county duties and my race for State Representative in 2012. I should have more on that soon. Stay tuned...

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!

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.

Parks Fees, Well-Water Fees, RIP Calvin Lynch, and Campaign Update

This week was interesting for county business. First, the issues...

As I reported last week,we passed our fees resolution. This is the resolution where we set our fees for the year (2011). Most of them passed without objection. I once again raised the parks fee increase issue. The proposal was to raise the fee from $2 to $3 for a daily pass, and from $20 to $30 for a yearly pass. My argument was that we just increased the number of days that we charge from 2 days to 6 days, and we shouldn't raise the fees once again. It fell on deaf ears this time, though. Staff made the argument that the extra dollars are needed for the upcoming budget discussions. Arguments were also made that people can take the waiver if they don't want to pay the fee. While I agree that people can take the waiver, I still think they shouldn't have to. They should pay, as they want to, but should not see prices rise again so soon. I also argued that this isn't about the budget, as we haven't even started considering it yet, and I argued that the county went from collecting $100,000 to $200,000 when we went from 2 days to 6 days so we shouldn't need to raise yet another $80,000 from our parks visitors so soon. But, you win some and you lose some. This wasn't my day, and the parking fees for Hawk Island, Burchfield, Lake Lansing, and the Zoo will go up next year.

The only other fee which was challenged was the Point of Sale fee. A little background...homes with well water (and not on municipal water and sewer systems) are charged an inspection fee when the home is sold. This is to ensure that there is not leakage or contamination into the septic field that pollutes the environment. The price is usually rolled into the mortgage sale of the home. Some people (mostly realtors) opposed this policy when we created it about 5 or 6 years ago, and they continue to oppose the fees. The fee is at 100% of the cost of the program. An amendment was made to oppose the fee increase for this program, with the argument that this this fee shouldn't be increased because it increases the cost of home sales. Supporters of increasing the fee, though, said that increasing to 100% would result in the County general fund (and all citizens) subsidizing the inspection program for these few people that are selling their homes. I voted with the supporters of increasing the fee. I believe that those of us on municipal water/sewer pay lots for that service to protects the environment and public health, and those on well water should pay as well to ensure that the septic fields and environment are not polluted. This amendment failed and the fee increase passed.

You also may recall that a two weeks ago the county passed a resolution moving the community agency money to the Power of We. This was undone last night when the Board voted to reconsider the resolution. It was then sent back to committee, where we will have the discussion all over again at the committee and Board level. So stay tuned...

Finally, sad news. Two Saturdays ago, the County lost a leader. Former Commissioner and Board Chair Calvin Lynch passed away. He was only in his late 50's, but had severe cancer. I attended the funeral on Saturday and it was moving. The family and his fraternity did a wonderful job. Ingham County also passed a resolution to honor his memory, and that was presented to Calvin's lovely wife Cathy and beautiful daughter Danielle. We passed that resolution on Tuesday, and many memories were shared. Personally, I recall serving with Calvin. He was loud and obnoxious, but he was honest and very caring. I learned so much from him as leader of our Board. He did not mince words and said exactly what he thought...and provided strong leadership. I also remember he and his wife being very gracious to me and my wife when we were together at the Counties conference and many other times. The County has lost a dedicated servant, and I will miss him. Cathy and Danielle and the entire Lynch family are in my thoughts and prayers.

On the political front, you may have noticed (if you live in the Lansing area) that I have gone up with my lawn signs. Although the City doesn't allow political yard signs to go up until July 1, my opponent started putting his signs up two weeks ago. So I have responded in kind. After putting up a few signs in supporters yards, I have been inundated with requests for yard signs. I am getting them out as fast as I can (so if you requested one, I will be there shortly with the sign). I am overwhelmed with support from my district, and am very appreciative. My opponent has talked about no county issues and has attacked me every chance he could, and people are not responding well to that. I will continue to run on my record, and hope that people will support that when they go to the polls instead of the distortions of my opponent!

PLA, Saving County $, Community Agencies (and a little campaign info)

On Tuesday, we also considered our first contract proposal under our Project Labor Agreement (PLA) policy. In case you haven’t heard, last year the county created a policy requiring PLA’s for bigger construction projects (anything over $100,000). It was highly controversial and the County Services held many meetings on it and worked with both business and labor to create the final product. I was not on the committee at the time, but worked on this when it came up on the Board floor. The County is planning to do an expansion of the Rhino exhibit at Potter Park Zoo and it will be the first PLA project. This is being done with dedicated zoo millage funds, so don’t worry about general fund dollars being used for this instead of deputies or health department or
anything else.

The controversy came, though, in the way our staff wants to do the PLA. There were two options presented: (1) have the county directly negotiation a PLA with one or more labor organizations, or (2) condition the award of a contract to a construction manager/general contractor. All other PLA’s – Sparrow, MSU, others – have the construction manager or general contactor negotiate with the union. Our staff wanted to negotiate directly for the first project because they wanted to set the first PLA as a basis for all future ones in case there is not the ability for future contract managers or general contractors to negotiate. The problem with that, though, was that this project is big enough to have a general contractor that is able to negotiate. I argued that we should take this on a case-by-case basis because each project has to come to the Board. I pushed for “option 2” to be adopted. In the end, that is exactly what happened. If there are future projects that need to have the county staff negotiate directly, then we can consider it at that time.

In other news, the Drain Commissioner came to County Services and Finance with a plan to save money for him and earn money for the county. How? Well….the Drain Commissioner borrows money for projects from banks and pays a certain interest rate (5% or so). The County invests its short-term tax collections in banks and receives a small interest on that money (1% or so) until it is needed for spending. So, why not combine the two? Why not have the
Drain Commissioner borrow it from the County and pay 3% interest or so? Then the county gains an extra 1% or 2% on interest on the short-term dollars, while the Drain Commissioner saves 1% or 2% on interest. So, we passed a resolution that would do this one time for a limited amount of money. I asked several questions about cash flow and ensuring that this won’t jeopardize county dollars or collections. Both County Treasurer Eric Schertzing and County Drain Commissioner Pat Lindemann ensured the committee that this work just fine, and that it will save money for the Drain Commissioner while earning a little more money for the County general fund. Now that’s government efficiency in motion! Thanks to Drain Commissioner Lindemann and Treasurer Schertzing!

In Finance, we considered how we fund our community agencies. Community agencies are the various groups in the community that do good work. Examples are the Lansing Community Gardens (which provide food for the poor) or the Lansing Area Aids Network or about 30 others. In the past, the county has given a few dollars to each of these organizations to do good work in the community. We cannot be everything to everyone, but we can support these groups to help those in need. The allocation in past years has been about $300,000. Last year that was cut to $200,000. This year, that is expected to eb cut to $100,000. While I have tremendous respect for the work they do, I have concerns about giving this money to outside agencies when we are cutting our own county employees and services. $100,000 is a deputy, or money for a park, or other key services. While I would consider supporting moving community agency dollars to other areas within the county, there doesn't seem to be support for that.

Instead, Commissioner Brian McGrain proposed to send the $100,000 to the Power of We consortium. The Power of We work with these non-profit organizations and show them how to be better at what they do. The concept is...if you give a man a fish, he eats for a day; if you teach a man to fish he eats forever. Instead of funding the programs each year with a very little amount of money from the county, the Power of We can use the money to teach them how to run better.

This proposal to move the money to the Power of We instead of directly allocating it to community agencies passed the Human Services committee on a 3-2 vote. I was not there but I understand that there was significant debate on the pros and cons. The Finance Committee defeated it on a 3-3 vote. The resolution will go to the Board for consideration on Tuesday, and it should be a very interesting debate and vote.

Well...that's it.

Actually, I will tell you one other thing. This week officially starts my re-election campaign. I have a challenger in the Democratic primary this year, and he has been bashing me left and right. Although he just moved into the district, he is telling anyone that will listen what a terrible job I have been doing for my district. I am taking this very seriously and will rise to the challenge. While this blog is usually dedicated to issue work (which my challenger will undoubtedly benefit from), I will also spend some time talking about my re-election. As always, I welcome any support folks can give (contributions, door knocking, etc.). And I look forward to the vote on August 3rd!

Andy