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[3:08] had to hit it all right welcome good morning everyone to

[3:12] the county advisory tax limitation committee I am Kim Morris with the chief

[3:17] Deputy County clerk's office and I now call this meeting to order let's start

[3:21] with roll call Dr Shawn Williams with the Intermediate School District

[3:27] superintendent Robert Robinson County treasure

[3:30] Here Blake Moulder Ways and Means Committee chairperson here Roger eeken

[3:36] Board of Commissioners appointment Michael Baker Probate Judge

[3:42] appointment ker sluter Township's appointment okay now if you guys could

[3:48] please introduce yourself and say a few things um about your background and why

[3:52] you're on this committee sure um I'm Sean Williams I'm the

[3:57] superintendent um Prov services to our sorry I have Sean Williams uh

[4:03] superintendent eat Resa we provide services to our local school districts

[4:07] and Charter Schools um we we have three different millages that come through uh

[4:13] through eaten County we have our general education millage special education

[4:17] millage and CT millage and basically we're flow through I mentioned earlier

[4:22] that uh our revenues and our expenses are exactly the same we money comes in

[4:27] and goes right out to the local districts and so I guess at we had our

[4:31] special education millage back in November uh that was successful what

[4:35] that did is it limited uh the debt that our districts were taken on to provide a

[4:40] unfunded mandate which is special education in Michigan and so it took

[4:44] their uh debt from six million collectively to 3 million um and so I

[4:49] think probably some of my perspective might help this committee as we move

[4:55] forward hi uh I'm Bob Robinson I am the very proud treasurer of Eden County uh I

[5:02] am statutorily required to participate in the committee uh and as one can

[5:08] imagine uh as County Treasurer I I probably have unique insights with

[5:13] respect to County finances that others may not so I'm I'm uh glad to be here uh

[5:20] glad to be your Treasurer and looking forward to conducting business this

[5:25] morning hi there I'm Blake Moulder I am a chair of the Ways and Means Committee

[5:32] statutorily it's it says the finance committee chair is supposed to be at

[5:36] this meeting um I have been on the County board for 14 years I have watched

[5:43] the County Progress the ups and the downs from the recession of 2008 to the

[5:48] current to the current um situation I'm a member of the financial stability work

[5:53] Group which has gotten together and made plans just some suggest questions to the

[6:00] full board as to how to keep this County in uh good

[6:07] financial situation and quite honestly uh we've been working on on looking at

[6:13] County finances in depth for several years and it was the workg group that

[6:18] made the recommendation that this committee be put together so thank

[6:25] you I'm Roger rein I was a commissioner on the count board for a number of years

[6:31] and have been retired from that board for a time but while I was on the board

[6:36] I was vice chairman of the board as well as chairman of ways and means so I've

[6:41] got a historical background relative to the what's going to be discussed today

[6:47] for the most part I'm going to be listening I'm Mike Baker I'm retired the

[6:53] former assessor for the city of Eaton Rapids I'm currently on the Planning

[6:58] Commission and the Zoning Board of appeals

[7:02] there my name is curtain selector um I am the uh supervisor at wsor Town woodor

[7:09] Charter Township um the supervisors uh elected

[7:14] me to this position um a few days ago and uh I hold

[7:20] maai designation a master's degree in real

[7:23] estate appraisal so I think that I can bring some perspective as to what the

[7:28] property owners are going to think about

[7:32] this okay now on to the election of a

[7:36] chairperson nominations are now open for the chairperson of the Eaton County

[7:40] advisory tax limitation committee I nominate Blake

[7:47] Alder

[7:51] second are there any others I move Blake is uh is put in that

[7:58] position by

[8:03] acclamation are there any

[8:06] others okay Blake Moulder has been nominated for chairperson of this

[8:10] committee yes oh sorry yes who would like to

[8:15] second no they didn't we did Sean did oh

[8:20] okay okay now on to roll call Dr sea Williams

[8:27] here yes yes used to be that's okay Robert Robinson yes Blake Moulder

[8:35] yes Roger eeken yes Michael Baker yes Kern selector yes okay now yes you are

[8:46] taking over thank you Kim Kim was uh impressed into this Duty

[8:52] on short notice she didn't realize she had to do it until about a half an hour

[8:56] ago and uh and as always she does does a great job so thank you thank

[9:02] you all right um we have an agenda before us what are your

[9:08] wishes move the agenda a second moved by Mr um Eon

[9:15] supported by um Mr Baker all those in favor

[9:22] oppos opposed yes a motion we used to we generally typically have discussion MH I

[9:29] heard no offer for discussion correct okay I'm sorry U Mr

[9:35] sler questions or comments agenda calls for limited public comment I think that

[9:40] uh before we approve this agenda we ought to let the public know what the

[9:44] limitations are to that public comment as the chair I will limit their

[9:50] comments to five minutes that worked for you that works for me thank you sir

[9:57] okay any other discussion now all those in favor I

[10:04] opposed thank you all right

[10:11] um I think we're all aware of what this committee has

[10:18] been called for but I'll just give us a few points be quick I'd like to get to

[10:22] the public comment and we've got um some input

[10:27] from from staff do we want to do that now what is your what are your thoughts

[10:32] I don't on the

[10:36] agenda do that you want to do it what we had

[10:40] intended was in item number seven that there would be discussion on discussion

[10:45] the beginning of the discussion okay thank you well thank you

[10:49] for all being here um this is as you understand a committee that was put

[10:55] together by the Board of Commissioners to discuss the allocations for the

[11:00] statutory allocations for the townships the ISD and the

[11:05] county understanding that the purpose of this committee is

[11:09] to um make recommendations to the full Board of Commissioners who would in turn

[11:16] put this ballot language on the ballot the timing is such

[11:23] that when the full Board gets our recommendations the ballot um would be

[11:30] for November of this year this

[11:34] point any recommendations that we meet that we make here go to the go to the uh

[11:41] Board of Commissioners and essentially these are the upper limits

[11:47] of the allegations the boards make their own um uh boards will do what they're

[11:55] going to do with the suggestion but for the most part they are um

[12:00] responsible for levying any of the taxes that's not our job our job is to only

[12:05] make the recommendations

[12:08] so okay let's go to some limited public comment five minutes maximum

[12:21] please good morning everyone my name is Doug Lloyd and I am your Eaton County

[12:27] prosecutor myself as well as judge Cunningham and Sheriff Reich intend to

[12:32] speak this morning but this morning one of my employees Terry Saddler who is a

[12:36] lifelong resident of Eaton County asked uh came and spoke to me and asked if she

[12:41] could speak for a moment and the words she expressed to me were something

[12:45] unique and and encouraging and so I asked Terry to actually speak before me

[12:50] and then we'll speak after so I would allow Eden County resident Terry Sadler

[12:54] to speak first thank you good morning as Doug said I am a lifelong resident of

[12:59] eaten County as well as an eaten County employee today I speak as a resident not

[13:04] as an employee as a resident I have seen nothing but growth and development in

[13:08] Eaton County I have seen a significant increase in population companies

[13:13] manufacturer jobs and in the housing market while Eaton County is heading in

[13:17] the right direction of growth that growth comes with costs these are costs

[13:22] that people incur every day they are not only countywide but State and Nationwide

[13:28] and many people are feeling the stresses of these costs this is something that I

[13:33] can understand but with the growth and development of Eaton County we need to

[13:37] be able to financially keep up with that as we stated in Prior meetings there's

[13:42] going to be a reduction in staff to the citizens of Eaton County many people may

[13:48] not or do not think that these Cuts will affect them those cuts will affect

[13:54] everybody in Eaton County if it is not you then it is somebody that you love or

[13:59] lives in the county services that could be infected include um veteran Services

[14:06] licensing like marriage cpls getting dog licenses development zoning planning

[14:11] drain property Deeds um treasury parts and wreck but most important the

[14:17] reduction in staff will affect Eaton County's courts and law enforcement

[14:20] System including the prosecuting attorney's office Sheriff's Office with

[14:25] 24-hour Road Patrol on the out County into certain townships district courts

[14:30] trial courts for trials in granting judgments and Clerks of the

[14:35] Court these are all essential functions to keep to keep citizens of e County

[14:41] safe and give them the ability to access the governmental functions that they are

[14:45] constitutionally have the right to have I leave you with this analogies as I

[14:49] think about this as I have been watching the meetings the the the Commissioners

[14:53] meetings the ways and means meetings as a resident of Eaton County I look at it

[14:58] like this this you build a house in 1978 you want to put money and invest in that

[15:03] house to keep that house modern up to date so when you get ready to pass down

[15:08] that house to a loved one or to sell that house you're going to get the rate

[15:12] of return back this is what eaten County needs to

[15:16] do to be able to address the current issue for the growth of the future the

[15:19] tax limitation would be an investment for the benefits of all citizens in

[15:23] eaten County thank you thank you Terry as I said I thought

[15:30] those were poignant words so I'll keep my words short today I've been with this

[15:35] County for almost 25 years during this time it's been no secret that this

[15:40] county has struggled financially you've all read the reports you've seen the

[15:44] numbers and understand the dire situation the County's faced with I

[15:48] don't need to add to that you know where we stand all 15 board members Democrats

[15:55] and Republicans voted unanimously to form the committee to begin this process

[16:01] and the county has gone above and beyond to get out in front of the people the

[16:05] residents to explain our troubles that is that is no easy work

[16:10] but it's necessary work for the county for our staff and for the services we

[16:15] provide without additional Revenue I can almost guarantee that there will be

[16:20] drastic changes as what services we can provide specifically in public safety

[16:27] whether my grow office grows even more short staffed and has to limit the cases

[16:31] that we take on or the sheriff's office has to eliminate a non-constitutional

[16:36] mandated service or the courts have to just close up because they don't have

[16:41] the Personnel to actually be here every day that's what is at

[16:47] risk the county has 400 employees who serve our residence and they're the

[16:53] backbone of the county and they are our most valuable assets the turnover of of

[16:59] employees in every office in the last two years has taken extensive

[17:05] institutional knowledge that impacts services and I can tell you because for

[17:10] some of you you've listened to it for years Mr Ean you've listened to it a

[17:16] long time ago I'm going to tell you that every

[17:20] office in this county has the same story that's why I'm here to support this

[17:26] proposal I want to thank all of you for serving on this committee friend for

[17:30] evaluating the financial needs of the counties the townships and

[17:42] ISD good morning I'm Tom Reich I'm your Sheriff here in Eaton County I want to

[17:47] thank you for participating in this committee what can I say I mean the

[17:52] county has in dire need of additional Revenue right now I feel that at the

[17:58] Sheriff's Office uh with vacancies that I can't fill due to the fact that I'm

[18:06] competing with other agencies who make more money for their

[18:10] officers I've also lost numerous people to other agencies who pay more so it's a

[18:16] continuous battle for me right now we have 14 POS

[18:20] vacancies uh it was up to 18 it's going to be 18 again when I have some more

[18:24] retirements this year this County I'm very proud of I

[18:30] think everybody in this who are employees have done a great job my staff

[18:35] at the Sheriff's Office have done a great job we are

[18:39] leaders in Sheriff's departments across the state we've made Leaps and Bounds

[18:44] with technology and training but I'm

[18:48] fearful and I hope you support

[18:53] this limitation tax limitation it's going to be well worth

[18:59] it uh the Sheriff's Office uh several months ago came up with an idea of doing

[19:04] a deputy Paramedic program I seen the need of it right now

[19:10] we have Eaton area EMS Delta Township has their own through the fire

[19:14] department wsor Township has their own I believe Benton Township has their own

[19:18] but I think the out count residents deserve a faster

[19:22] response with medical assistance I can't tell you how much I'm

[19:28] very proud of this County I think uh county soie has done a great job as a

[19:34] controller I think our commissioners have done a great job they seen that we

[19:40] are need of additional revenue and I believe this if supported will go into

[19:47] the November ballot and uh hopefully get passed by the public so thank you again

[19:54] and move move forward

[20:01] good morning uh my name is Jan Cunningham and I'm a circuit court judge

[20:06] but I am also the chief judge of the trial courts and I don't usually come

[20:10] and speak before the board and uh mislaid and uh prosecutor Lloyd and the

[20:16] sheriff have uh echoed the sentiments that I have but I would like to share

[20:21] with you specifically as it relates to the courts that we have made Cuts over

[20:25] the last several years and we have consolid ated functions to try to adjust

[20:31] to the financial struggles that Eaton County has faced at this time there are

[20:36] no further adjustments that we can make we struggle to provide the necessary

[20:41] level of service to the public one struggle is being made difficult because

[20:47] additional requirements are placed on the court by the Michigan Supreme Court

[20:51] over which we have no control and we are required to meet this is especially in

[20:56] the area of technology and diversion and as our employees struggle to meet

[21:01] these demands they are doing it in crowded inadequate workspace I too am

[21:07] proud of Eaton County and I know that Eaton County is a great place to work we

[21:11] have wonderful employees they understand the importance of what they do every day

[21:17] and how that directly impacts the lives of the Eaton County residents that come

[21:22] to use our courts and even though it is a great

[21:25] place to work we struggle to maintain employees

[21:29] because we are not competitive in our wages and our benefits that struggle

[21:34] becomes even more difficult as we try to hire people when other employees leave

[21:39] for reasons of retirement or going to the county next door inam with which we

[21:45] directly compete with and pay better wages my request to you today is simple

[21:53] I'm asking you to help us provide a working environment with competitive way

[21:59] so that we can continue to deliver the quality of services that the Eaton

[22:04] County residents have come to expect and they deserve I thank you for your time

[22:10] and I thank you for serving on this committee I know it's very difficult

[22:15] thank you

[22:29] hello everyone I just I'll be brief I want to thank you for uh being here and

[22:33] serving um as you know uh uh Blake mentioned earlier that we had a

[22:40] financial stability work group that's been working on this for a while and we

[22:44] uh came to the conclusion that we needed to get to this point um just because of

[22:50] uh the situation you've heard earlier before this um meeting and

[22:56] building up to this we had a several town halls and in those Town Halls we

[23:01] had uh uh some internal town halls with employees and employee after employees

[23:07] said they like working here but the pay is not competitive with other counties

[23:13] and so they they want to stay but uh financial reasons often takes them

[23:19] elsewhere um we had some uh town halls with the um Township officials uh they

[23:27] came here and uh that was very good we uh got to hear uh

[23:32] from their perspective and it was a it was a good meeting the first time we

[23:37] ever got all the townships together but I want to say one thing and that is we

[23:44] have a lot of good talented people that work here and we want to keep them um as

[23:49] Sheriff said I'm also fearful of what would happen if we could not keep those

[23:55] people um and and and people to replace them it' be very

[24:01] difficult um but with that also there was a lot of work that went into place

[24:07] uh that took place throughout this last year and without controller syby and her

[24:13] staff um this really wouldn't happen because it took a lot of work a lot of

[24:17] time and they are also under staff so thank you but uh again thank you for

[24:23] being here and thank you for serving

[24:34] anyone else there will be another opportunity

[24:38] at the end of the agenda for public comment thank you let's go on to some

[24:46] discussion about the current tax allocation and some input from staff and

[24:52] some uh Mr Dawson has some information uh I think we have generally had a lot

[25:01] of uh the financial stability work groups information has gone to the

[25:05] public it's been available on the website we've passed it out to everyone

[25:10] that was interested um a lot of work has gone into it the financial stability

[25:15] work group actually started when Mr ekon was on the board some years ago

[25:21] and you know we've we've been looking at this we've looked at our at our

[25:26] possibilities and uh um at this point we finally reached the

[25:33] point where action is necessary so Mr

[25:40] Dawson okay um so do we want to start off just every uh member of this

[25:48] committee you have a packet it has a copy of a presentation that the Count's

[25:52] prepared to summarize a report which was much more lengthy so we're endeavoring

[25:57] to leave the time today for you all to have discussions and questions um on

[26:01] this there's also a blank action item so if anybody wants to make a motion that's

[26:06] the statutory framework that uh that would look like uh we included a few

[26:11] page summary of our Capital Improvement plan we didn't print the whole thing but

[26:15] if any members of this committee want the whole Capital Improvement plan uh we

[26:18] can produce that for the infrastructure needs of the county and then there copy

[26:22] of the full May report which was 30 pages and a copy of a 2018 uh analysis

[26:28] that was done previously prior to covid when uh Financial stability work group

[26:33] at that time had analyzed the needs of the county so before we get to the

[26:38] county presentation I think this was an opportunity to see if townships uh

[26:43] wanted to come up and and do a presentation or have discussions uh so

[26:48] I'll defer to um their representative to see if that's something they'd like to

[26:56] do um I have sent uh emails out to the other supervisors um and I've gotten no

[27:04] comment or response from them so I guess the the townships at this point are

[27:10] going to remain

[27:14] silent thank you thank you uh thank you for your leadership in that role as well

[27:20] uh so then next is an opportunity for the istd as well so Sean I welcome you

[27:24] to uh speak to the needs of the um of your

[27:28] of your District thank you yeah I can think what

[27:33] I would like to do just kind of highlight a few things so that point2

[27:37] Mills represents the general education uh budget for eat and Risa sorry excuse

[27:43] me and you know just to kind of how ISD budgets work it really is our District's

[27:49] budgets they they own those funds they they have complete input on how those

[27:54] funds are dispensed and each one of our local school boards vote on how the

[27:59] funds are dispersed and so the the big items that come out of that fund are

[28:05] school safety uh general education supports which are math English science

[28:09] and social studies uh School substitutes um adult uh Ed education and

[28:16] treny are the big ones and I have to say on on the macro level you know we have

[28:21] been thoroughly you know um pleased with the amount of support that we get from E

[28:26] County government um we have have a great relationship with the sheriff's

[28:30] department the prosecutor's office Treasury and just very helpful people um

[28:36] I have to say that we are really concerned um about Public Safety uh

[28:41] given the light that we've had in the environment and

[28:44] education um we 100% rely on the sheriff's department to keep our schools

[28:50] safe and that is first and foremost our biggest responsibility as Educators they

[28:57] coordinate all first responses to our local districts and unfortunately the

[29:03] word is out on the street that coverage at certain points of the day are not as

[29:08] heavy as we would prefer especially when you figure from the north to the South

[29:12] borders of the county is pretty large and so that concerns me because in my

[29:16] experiences Bad actors quickly figure out where there is lack of supervision

[29:22] they also know where lack of prosecution is so uh we're definitely uh concerned

[29:28] and I think I can speak for all of this superintendent e County that we really

[29:32] need your support around Public

[29:38] Safety thank you thank you um and before we move into the county piece um I did

[29:44] just want to state so everybody knows the Mills that are listed on the agenda

[29:48] are the original ones that were set in 1978 um so both all groups the townships

[29:55] the Intermediate School District and uh Eaton County has been subject to Headly

[29:59] rollbacks uh so the amount that were allowed to Levy at this moment uh was

[30:03] diminished by three roll backs that took place um and was outlined in the report

[30:09] uh for that as we transition to the county I'll open it for controller soie

[30:14] to do an opening I I just wanted to thank on

[30:19] behalf of the county all of you for being here for years this County and

[30:22] I've been here for 36 years has worked to balance its budget we have done so on

[30:28] open positions on the backs of employees who have taken less pay to come here and

[30:33] do appreciate um the opportunity to work here um we're now at the point that we

[30:38] have to seek additional Revenue we've done a significant amount of analysis um

[30:44] we've continued to do that over the last several several years I've also ban a

[30:48] part of that Financial stability work group um so I've seen where we've gone

[30:53] the revenues are decreasing um and the expenses are going to continue to go up

[30:58] that's a fact of life so the outline that you received from the financial

[31:03] stability work group was a detailed report um we tried to do that as a group

[31:09] um and staff did work really hard thank you all um that resulted in the board to

[31:16] form this committee which is significant to us as staff that they took a a

[31:21] detailed look at this um and realize the need so I do want to turn it over to Ben

[31:27] again so they he can go through a brief PowerPoint um and we'd like for you to

[31:31] hold your questions until the end um but we do welcome questions the difficult

[31:36] ones as well thank you very much okay thank you so the presentation

[31:44] on screen for those that are in the audience on either TV and then for those

[31:47] at home you can see it right there uh so we thank you for being here and uh for

[31:52] your considerations of the County's financial needs we can move to the

[31:56] overview

[31:59] Logan is it moving oh great all right so the outline of this is going to be

[32:05] pretty brief like we said we we did a lot of the work on the front end the May

[32:09] 10th report came out and hopefully everybody here has had a chance to read

[32:13] it uh know it was provided upon uh folks appointments or the formation of this

[32:17] committee so we're going to talk about financial projections we're going to

[32:21] take a look at expense growth compared to inflation expenditures and revenue uh

[32:26] have a discussion about arpa funding which America rescue plan act funding

[32:30] that was Co dollars that were provided by the federal government and that

[32:33] relationship to the county fund balance which is the equivalent of the general

[32:38] fund money that carries over season to season and allows the board to make

[32:41] funding decisions uh as they evaluate influences on Revenue Headley and prop a

[32:48] uh service levels and expense by function so we'll just dive on

[32:52] in so Financial projections this was out of the executive summary uh County does

[32:58] not have the revenue to maintain current service levels uh currently the

[33:01] projected shortfalls to be over 1.3 million shorten the next budget um I

[33:07] will say we're building that budget now and it will potentially be more and

[33:11] those will be discussions Ways and Means as we move forward but this was just an

[33:15] initial projection based on historic we're building the actual detailed

[33:18] budget as we speak uh this shortfall will continue to compound year after

[33:23] year if more revenue is not identified uh without additional Revenue cuts and

[33:27] service and Staffing will be necessary I'll speak on this in one way if we lose

[33:33] institutional knowledge if we have to make cuts and later got the revenue it

[33:37] will take a long time to rebuild back the quality character um and we would

[33:41] almost have like an apprenticeship model where we would have to get people with

[33:44] no experience and build it back and for Specialties like law enforcement the

[33:48] prosecutor's office attorneys that is a very heavy lift and so a lot of us have

[33:53] already been wrangling that the last two years next slide

[33:59] this next one is just to illustrate uh expense growth for the County compared

[34:03] to inflation we chose three categories that tend to beat or uh sometimes exceed

[34:09] inflation so as you can tell had these expenses grown over this 10year period

[34:14] at the rate of inflation they would have been less than 12 million but in

[34:18] actuality they're closer to 16 million and so while we all struggle with the

[34:23] the bite of inflation this is just showing that this is what the county has

[34:27] had to navigate previously when they've made Cuts uh deferred maintenance and

[34:30] infrastructure that are critical to the safety and the ability for staff to

[34:35] continue to Pride provide services next slide uh next is uh expenditures and

[34:41] revenues this one is um kind of outlines exactly where our revenue and expenses

[34:47] are um we took into account there are gasby changes which are the accounting

[34:51] rules so the those are marked out so you can tell what's actual Cash Flow versus

[34:56] what's book keeping uh type of piece but as you can see uh the trend is is that

[35:02] expenses continue to outpace revenue um and we show in the blue what Revenue

[35:07] would have been without pandemic relief funds uh there's an arpa slide but we

[35:11] would not have been able to make it to this meeting if we did not have uh lost

[35:16] Revenue that we could rely on in the prior three budget Cycles um so that

[35:20] kind of bought us time to assess what was the best path forward next

[35:25] line This is the graph was telling you about as you can see of the arpa funds

[35:31] that were allocated to the county this was the distribution of how they were

[35:34] spent the green is that Revenue replacement that's the Lost Revenue I

[35:38] referenced um and there's a direct relationship as you can see to the

[35:41] county fund balance um and what we're projected to look at uh in the coming

[35:46] two fiscal years without any additional

[35:50] Revenue so I'm going to spend a little more time on this because the table

[35:54] that's listed there wasn't in the May report it took took us some time to put

[35:58] this together uh but generally headle rollbacks and proposal a um are things

[36:04] that govern what property value uh local units of government are allowed to Levy

[36:09] um and when prop a took effect it created a state equalized value and then

[36:15] it created um it created a taxable value so originally SCV the equalized value

[36:22] used to be what you were able to Levy up to since

[36:25] 1994 uh that Gap has led to a 23.2 million Revenue loss for the county

[36:31] that's cumulative uh and the gap between taxable value and the equalized value is

[36:36] currently sitting at 31.7% so what that means is as the

[36:40] market appreciates in value 31 almost 32% of that is not taxable value that

[36:46] makes it to the county to townships or to the ISD because of how that law Works

[36:52] uh the loss of revenue for the County due to tiffa districts which are tax

[36:57] incre financing districts you know them as downtown um development authorities

[37:02] um Corridor authorities uh we have a number of them in Eaton County uh for

[37:06] 209 since 2019 that's been a $3.8 million loss for the county what that

[37:13] means is when a mill is levied before anything reaches the county there are a

[37:17] number of uh groups that get funded first off of the top um and those tiffa

[37:23] districts are funded before anything comes to the county so again talking

[37:27] about that development you see this battery plant in Delta you see these

[37:31] different things that doesn't translate to funding to the county to continue to

[37:36] provide expanded services to meet that growth uh the Lost Revenue due to County

[37:41] exemption since 2019 it estimated at 1 million and will continue to grow uh

[37:46] every commissioner is is supportive of taking care of our veterans they're

[37:52] heroic and their service and very supportive of the intent of this law the

[37:57] problem being this was an unfunded mandate that was placed on us by the

[38:00] state of Michigan so similar to how chief judge had talked about there are

[38:04] things that occur at the state level that we don't have control over but has

[38:09] a direct impact on our ability to provide services that number will

[38:13] continue to grow uh as as you see has as it has since uh

[38:18] 2019 uh the next is lost Revenue due to a Renaissance Zone Renaissance zones are

[38:23] like a tax increment District but they can formed by the State uh and that

[38:28] battery plant in Delta is one that's going to be in place for 18 years um

[38:34] this year it was 221,000 lost revenue for the county uh

[38:39] that will double when the facility is complete and it Brees its full maturity

[38:43] for market value um and you could just see in a six-year period these four

[38:48] categories alone have cost the county $12.3

[38:51] million so it's all just to have the discussion that what's brought us here

[38:56] today is largely being played out all across the state of Michigan there are a

[39:01] number of counties that are struggling in similar positions and a lot of it is

[39:05] framework that's been put in place at the state level that we all have to work

[39:09] uh work through next slide service levels by function uh

[39:15] Public Safety represents 35.1% of the County's expenses um we continue to

[39:21] experience those hiring and retention difficulties and that has led to the

[39:24] reduction in shift coverage for large portions of the county um as well as

[39:29] increased overtime costs to try to continue to provide coverage with the

[39:32] Staffing that we have uh retirement costs alone have increased 4.3 million

[39:37] in the past 5 years which represents

[39:46] 135.243 um and that's been a significant burden on all localities um and that's

[39:53] what's driving that we've actually reduced our pension benefit we've

[39:56] eliminated our retirees Health we've gone through the responsible process to

[40:01] take care of it but when a deadline of 20 years is set every year that goes by

[40:06] the obligation on the county grows of what we have to put in to meet that 100%

[40:11] by that year uh county has contributed 42.9 million to Ms um in the last 10

[40:18] years and um of that close to 3 to 4 million it was additional contributions

[40:24] above the minimum required contribution County sits currently at 62% funded

[40:30] again that mandate from the state of Michigan and uh Market forces we are

[40:34] currently at 62 but we were at 70% funded in

[40:41] 1996 next this is a service levels and 10year snapshot of expenses uh this is

[40:47] to give you kind of an idea what the budget looked like in fiscal year 2014

[40:52] and what it was in 2023 we had 3742 total uh full-time equivalent

[40:59] FTE um with 279 of them uh being supported by general fund snap forward

[41:06] to today it's 384.94

[41:27] here and that has not translated to a savings expense categories across the

[41:33] board as you can see over there by the percentiles have increased uh over that

[41:37] period of time so while the expenses have grown substantially the county has

[41:42] not increase staff due to constraints on the general

[41:50] fund so summary County's projected to be 1.3 shortfall in the uh upcoming fiscal

[41:56] year which which would be compounded to 23.4 um in the next two fiscal years so

[42:03] without additional Revenue the county will be forced to reduce level uh levels

[42:07] of service it provides to address these shortfalls reductions could eliminate

[42:11] vacant positions employee layoffs reduction in hours of operation

[42:16] reduction in hours for staff uh and or the sale of assets uh we do have some

[42:21] buildings and we may get to the point where the board has to make the decision

[42:25] to start selling them off um apart from securing additional

[42:29] Revenue the only path forward is a significant reduction in County staff

[42:33] and services which will impact all residents of Eaton County and I'll I'll

[42:38] say it again if we lose a significant portion and folks decide to come back

[42:43] and fund the county later it will take years to rebuild the talent uh the skill

[42:49] and the dedication that we have now um so I appreciate everybody for being here

[42:54] and for um letting us talk about our needs

[42:58] next slide and this just shows uh what the

[43:03] separate tax allocation looks like the township allocation as it was set in

[43:08] 1978 where everybody rests with Ru backs um and uh the recommendation from the

[43:14] financial stability work Group which would be to authorize the board to have

[43:18] the ability to Levy the remaining three that are allowed under the Constitution

[43:24] uh again that decision to Lev is made every year by each board it's not an

[43:28] automatic Levy the same way a lot of townships choose not to Levy their

[43:32] administrative fee uh it would just give the board the ability to do that if

[43:37] necessary next

[43:40] slide and this is a draft uh separate tax limitation proposal matches very

[43:45] similar to the action that's in your packet and that concludes our discussion

[43:51] thank you Mr Dawson any questions for staff

[43:58] thank you that brings us to the uh point at hand which really is to fill in the

[44:04] blanks for the separate tax limitation proposal the one that is uh the last on

[44:10] the screen um I'd like discussion to follow

[44:14] the the agenda for the areas that the blanks that need to be filled in and uh

[44:21] I would like to start with the township allocation which currently is 1 mil now

[44:26] that's the townships this is for all General

[44:31] law townships Charter townships create their own funding mechanism and they're

[44:35] not party to this particular um allocation

[44:40] so what we're proposing here is for state general law townships now each of

[44:49] them uses their allocation in a different way they've been rolled back

[44:53] at different amounts depending on a lot of tax issues and they've some of them

[44:58] Levy some of them don't um what we're asking for is just to reset the stage

[45:04] more or less and put the townships back on their 1% or I'm sorry um their one

[45:10] mil allocation and I'm open to discussion on this

[45:22] point Mr Robinson yes for uh clarification Mr chair can you uh walk

[45:28] us through what the uh what the 3.29 uh allocation suggested by Mr

[45:35] Dawson uh is and how that relates to the uh to the amounts being apportioned

[45:43] here are are we saying that there's three there's that this uh committee can

[45:49] allocate three and uh divide that three uh I'm just looking for clarification on

[45:56] that uh the total the total

[46:00] allocation that's the maximum that is allowed is 9.7 Mills okay so that's

[46:07] that's the Max and we'll that actually gets filled in on the uh the ballot

[46:13] proposal um we're looking and currently we're

[46:16] allocating um basically

[46:21] 5.52 and one that's what the current allocation is before roll backs

[46:28] so we can play with all of the 9.7 but we're proposing that we follow

[46:36] the formula that historically has been been there with the townships receiving

[46:42] their 1 M allocation and followed up ISD with

[46:47] their historical point2 allocation the remainder we're

[46:52] proposing with discussion and with your input

[46:57] um going to the county is that clear that that clarifies

[47:01] it yes thank

[47:07] you so I'm looking for a consensus more or less are we good with looking at the

[47:14] Township's one M alloc or one M allocation and this will automatically

[47:21] roll back if it were and this is going to go to the ballot and you know we're

[47:27] not making that tax change here we're telling the County Board to put this on

[47:32] the ballot at this recommendation so this would roll back

[47:37] put the County's um allocation back up to 1 mil

[47:42] from whereever it's been rolled back the townships again each of those are

[47:47] different when is this proposed to be on the ballot timing of this is such that

[47:53] if we were to make a recommendation to the County Board today they will um

[47:59] follow up with it next at their next full board meeting in June

[48:05] and they'll probably create the ballot recommendation in July that the

[48:13] plan you could do that at your at the June meeting the board we could do it

[48:17] right at June yeah so Mr sctor so

[48:23] by recommending this one mill and assuming it a pass

[48:30] passes um in the November

[48:34] election the township boards then would just have a little more freedom

[48:42] in levying more tax but wouldn't be obligated to is that correct that is

[48:47] correct thank you that is correct the I'm not totally familiar with the

[48:51] township situation They Don't Really Lev Levy they budget and whatever they

[48:55] budget is the number that's used but that's uh all in statute actually the

[49:01] way the law works is we have to set the millage and that's set before the

[49:08] budget's actually approved but you know yeah it's it's go kind of luted so this

[49:14] will offer a little breathing room for the townships that have had major roll

[49:19] backs and again that's uh um each Township is different and so they have

[49:25] to speak to right I understand that do it as such I just just wanted to clarify

[49:30] that one point about about it being mandatory correct so yes we're looking

[49:35] at getting it to the County Board and they would propose getting it on the on

[49:40] the November

[49:44] ballot I then if it were to pass in November that it would take effect

[49:49] immediately on fiscal year upcoming it would actually be

[49:54] levied the next year which is collected in the summer taxes in in

[50:04] June we have a projection at all at how long this particular increase would

[50:10] assist the county that is another um well the period of of this allocation

[50:18] is something that we'll discuss but in terms of the long-term Financial

[50:23] stability of the county I will first of all we don't know

[50:27] what future boards are going to Levy we don't know what future boards are

[50:31] planning on doing so we can't speak to that but the work of the financial

[50:36] stability group really has indicated that this would allow the board to put

[50:42] the County Board to put themselves on footing that would um keep stability

[50:48] long into the future so we're not this is a way to fix a problem and depending

[50:56] on how judicious future boards are with that Levy their levying power um you

[51:03] know we leave it to them long into the future that's an

[51:09] interesting statement how long can you give me some

[51:14] idea what we're talking about what what how long will the financial stability of

[51:18] this County be reestablished once this is passed if it's passed let's put it

[51:25] that way

[51:28] I'll judge I'll venture to say that if this were passed the financial stability

[51:32] is secure for the county in all of the the

[51:39] next budget Cycles when I say that I I we only project in our budget Cycles at

[51:45] the county about three to four years ahead and any further than that has

[51:49] always been pretty much um just guessing commissioner or Mr

[51:57] Robinson uh I do understand Mr chair that we will specifically be discussing

[52:02] the length of time for for the allocation so we will get into

[52:06] conversation about that I I wanted to uh mention with respect to the uh one M for

[52:13] uh townships I have had conversations with uh with uh quite a few Township

[52:18] people uh none of them indicated any indication to need to increase an

[52:24] allocation at the local level this moving forward the one mil would give

[52:30] them the additional breathing space of a Headly roll back so uh considering those

[52:37] conversations I would be in favor of moving forward with the one 1.0 mil

[52:42] thank you m Mr Robinson is that a motion I I will make a motion I'll

[52:50] second we can do that um we'll move each of these items in end we'll move to the

[52:58] full board when we have the entire um um action items figured out so the motion

[53:05] on the floor is to put the county allocation at one M

[53:10] Township Township I'm Township allocation 1 mil questions or

[53:18] comments all those in favor I I

[53:24] opposed thank you now let's move on to this

[53:29] discussion let's go to the Intermediate School

[53:33] District so I guess m sorry so one of the things that we pride

[53:40] ourselves that eat Reese say we're one of the most efficiently run if not the

[53:45] most efficiently run Risa in the state um our Partnerships with Lon Community

[53:50] College and the way that we um fund special education in our local districts

[53:55] um we're able to do things that a lot of folks aren't able to do so our input

[53:59] output's pretty amazing but it's also not lost on me that we just went to

[54:04] voters eight months ago for our special education millage which didn't fix the

[54:08] problem but it did alleviate a lot of the stress for our general Ed general

[54:12] education budgets in our local districts where they were taking funds that were

[54:17] meant for all kids and they were funding special education programs that the

[54:21] state was not funding um and so I guess my question is is in our gratuiti

[54:27] towards the citizens that supported that what would be the effect to leave Ingam

[54:33] or Ingam in or Eaton reso off of this uh initiative and focus on the township and

[54:40] Eaton

[54:45] County so instead of asking which essentially is because we're at 67 so

[54:51] it's essentially we're asking for a restoration to two what if we were able

[54:56] to just stay with our 67 that way the voters know that we appreciate the

[55:01] support they gave us in our special education millage and then also uh would

[55:05] be more favorable towards supporting both the township and the

[55:11] county I understand what you're saying um that's a very difficult message to to

[55:17] that to translate it to the public now obviously you don't have to assess the

[55:22] entire 2 mil that's your prerogative at the at the

[55:28] ISD if we were actually to put that in on this in this

[55:33] language the reason the reasoning for it I think would be pretty opaque I mean I

[55:41] you're thanking the voters for giving you the last override but I don't know

[55:47] that voters are smart but I'm not really sure that they would link these two

[55:50] things together and so I I I appreciate the the thought

[55:57] but I'm not I'm open to what the rest of the group wants to say

[56:06] I'm I think it's a generous offer um from the perspective of the ISC just

[56:13] getting an increase but it would complicate um what the main goal is um

[56:20] for what this group is trying to do

[56:26] I would agree with that we do not want to complicate

[56:31] matters so um I think this sounds like a good

[56:35] plan so following our pattern now we'll look for a motion for the

[56:40] isd's um

[56:46] allocation one of you would be better to might move it rather I'll make the

[56:51] motion by sluter supported by Robinson questions or comments um yes under under

[56:59] discussion for this um it appears to me that this is going

[57:07] to be a very very involved public relations campaign and I don't envy your

[57:14] position at all um from from the ISD

[57:22] um if this fails in no November we're going to have a train

[57:29] wreck I'll address that I'd like to know what plan B is Plan B is because this is

[57:34] the Constitutional allocation Plan B is everything stays the same this does not

[57:42] um if this fails in November the existing

[57:46] allocations stay where they're at and so nothing

[57:51] changes but we have just heard oh at several

[57:57] meetings the disaster that the prosecutor's office the Sheriff's Office

[58:04] all these important offices are going to face I really think we need Plan

[58:13] B just well timing is everything yeah exactly and our people are hurting now

[58:20] getting things on the ballot you know we've got an opportunity for one one uh

[58:27] question and that would be this and this beyond the beyond our uh duties here to

[58:34] talk about that but I think that's going to be up to people to make sure that

[58:38] this ballot question is is resolved in a a positive way for this group and that's

[58:45] again work that has to be done not by the county but by individuals who would

[58:52] be interested in this in uh making sure that this

[58:56] happens so but for hey how is this going to be presented to the county County

[59:02] voter well that's is it going to be each one of these groups tackling

[59:08] this on their own for example the our Public Safety is going to get together

[59:13] and spend money to that will all be have to be worked

[59:17] out after this is determined it's not something that again this group our our

[59:23] mission here is to I understand is to fill out these a numbers and leave it to

[59:28] others to figure out the next steps who are the

[59:33] others I want it' be us talking about the Board of

[59:37] Commissioners no well the board of board of board can be involved but bottom line

[59:42] it is PE it is getting people out to understand what this initiative is

[59:48] about Mr slor real quick answer to Roger question um we have a lot of campaign uh

[59:56] Finance law and things like this that has to be taken into account uh as for

[1:00:01] the county actively getting involved in a campaign and spending County dollars

[1:00:05] on it that's not going to happen it's not I mean you're looking at essentially

[1:00:11] having somebody very independent of the County government setting up a pack and

[1:00:16] I'm I'm I'm sure you're going to have some opposition to this thing I'm just

[1:00:21] absolutely certain of that so when I when I pose the question what's play B

[1:00:27] I'm really serious this is going to be a problem this is going to be very this is

[1:00:32] going to be a huge political campaign to get this

[1:00:37] approved thank you Mr sluter we are aware of that those of us

[1:00:44] on the other side of this okay we have a motion did did we

[1:00:49] vote on that we're on the question this is for the township allocation or for

[1:00:54] the highd appication all those in favor I I I

[1:01:02] opposed thank you next we go to the the county

[1:01:09] allocation this is one that um Mr Dawson addressed as

[1:01:16] did the the the chief judge and the prosecutor and the

[1:01:22] sheriff um

[1:01:27] this will take the county this would take the county to

[1:01:32] 8.5 that's that's recommendation 9.7 9.7 is is the total of all of those

[1:01:40] I'll move it moved by Eon

[1:01:47] supported by Robinson discussion

[1:01:58] all those in favor I those

[1:02:02] opposed thank you the next issue is the

[1:02:07] duration this can be set up as some counties do this as

[1:02:13] a we had a long discussion with our Council about this and who councils many

[1:02:19] counties on this very subject and there are counties that do this every few

[1:02:24] years they set up this a board similar to this and they set up

[1:02:29] their allocations um our Council was pretty

[1:02:34] clear they thought it should it should be set up as an indefinite time

[1:02:41] period saying that if we wanted to change it any board wanted to set up a

[1:02:45] time period or change the allocations that they would have the opportunity to

[1:02:50] do so in the future but at this point on the the way the ballot language question

[1:02:56] will read is that this would be an indefinite

[1:03:00] allocation rather than breaking it down to yearly

[1:03:05] or five years or whatever like other like some counties do so I would be

[1:03:12] comfortable following our

[1:03:16] council's Direction and making this in an indiff indefinite period

[1:03:26] Mr sluter I think that um first of all I don't know the reason why Council made

[1:03:32] that recommendation other than um it would cause a situation where it was

[1:03:41] automatic I I think that if we limited this to four or maybe five years where

[1:03:48] the citizens had the right and the opportunity to have public comment to

[1:03:54] speak to these real ations uh I think we would be doing I

[1:03:59] think we would be doing the citizens uh a Justice and I also think that we

[1:04:06] would create for the county a tremendous campaign issue I think you're going to

[1:04:12] have a problem if you do it forever but I think if you put it out there as

[1:04:16] though it can be Revisited from from time to time at a a period of time uh I

[1:04:23] think you're going to be I think you're going to be much much further

[1:04:28] ahead I appreciate that I I believe the difference is that if it

[1:04:35] were at in a situation if it were voted down where it's got a certain period

[1:04:41] that the recourse that it would actually disappear all funding would disappear

[1:04:48] versus in that in that situation there would be no funding but I'd like I'd

[1:04:55] like to see a legal opinion on that that's I may be wrong do you guys have a

[1:05:00] call on that yeah so I think Am I Wrong my

[1:05:04] understanding is right now we're in an indefinite period so if this fails we

[1:05:08] revert to an indefinite period if you allocate moving forward to be on a cycle

[1:05:14] you don't default back to indefinite because you've moved onto a cycle going

[1:05:19] forward so while the risk of the loss doesn't exist right now if it was say

[1:05:24] six years and it was voted down the default would be back to the

[1:05:30] authorization that was only for six years is my understand we can the timing

[1:05:35] yeah timing would just be default would yeah me it would default to the

[1:05:42] five5 for today's purposes because it's indefinite right now but if you vote to

[1:05:47] move to a a cyclical changing it every so many years that's the new default

[1:05:54] because you've changed the 19 78 if that makes sense so in the future this was

[1:05:59] moved and it was passed 6 years later it's evaluated and it fails you don't

[1:06:05] default back to the 1978 you default back to the 2024 allocation is my

[1:06:11] understanding to how Council explained it that makes sense that makes better

[1:06:14] sense to me can actually confirm that um as we went through legal counsel for our

[1:06:19] millage we had to use the language of an increase otherwise we would run the

[1:06:24] Jeopardy in 10 years having the whole special ed millage fall off um it became

[1:06:30] problematic because the language was really convoluted because we were doing

[1:06:34] two different things we were restoration and then a increase and really most of

[1:06:39] the complaints that I received from the public was this is really confusing

[1:06:42] ballot language it wasn't really about the millage so yeah I concur yeah thank

[1:06:49] you for that clarification

[1:06:56] Mr Robinson thank you Mr chair um the the uh only problem I see with

[1:07:03] uh uh it by not going in indefinite is that uh as supervisor sluter is

[1:07:11] mentioned it it would seem uh to put us into a major public relations effort

[1:07:19] every what three four years five years uh versus uh uh you know uh

[1:07:27] grinding it out with one uh initiative which is going to be tough

[1:07:32] enough uh so uh you know looking at uh resources and how they're allocated and

[1:07:38] apportioned uh as a Communications professional which is what I did prior

[1:07:44] to being elected Treasurer um I I I think that could uh cause a lot of

[1:07:50] trouble and a lot of confusion um so I I I think that going with a in definite

[1:07:56] time period to me makes more sense from a resource perspective now that being

[1:08:01] said uh we we have to consider what the perspective of and will of the voters

[1:08:06] are uh and I don't know what the will of the voters are in that respect would

[1:08:10] they be more apt to approve it on a short-term basis or more apt to approve

[1:08:15] it on a long-term basis uh I'd like to hear more from other members of the

[1:08:21] committee about that uh but uh from from the way I see it I I I think that it

[1:08:28] makes most sense to go with an indefinite period

[1:08:33] um it's an uphill battle it's walking uphill a steep one uh but uh uh I would

[1:08:41] hate to see uh everything grind to a halt every three or four years who knows

[1:08:46] what's going to happen in another three or four years that's that's the world

[1:08:49] we've been living in for the last three or four

[1:08:52] years thank you

[1:08:57] yes Mr Baker my assumption after reading the report is that um this is

[1:09:03] potentially the best option that you see that you have um to potentially gain

[1:09:09] this increase that you've never had before um and I think you need to try

[1:09:14] now because it may be even more difficult in the

[1:09:24] future I would find it difficult I would hate

[1:09:28] to to go into a into a shorten cycle of 10 or or five years for the County Board

[1:09:36] to have to continually go through the work to renew it I don't I understand

[1:09:41] your point and I think it's a good one but I I don't I would hate to impose

[1:09:45] that on the future boards I think uh they're they're going to have their

[1:09:49] hands full making sure that the count is run effectively and making sure that

[1:09:55] these monies are used effectively and not and uh allocated appropriately so I

[1:10:01] would prefer to see an indefinite period if they find reason to change it then

[1:10:06] let them do

[1:10:10] so what kind of a change are we talking about I mean wouldn't the change be to

[1:10:15] reduce it they could they could reduce it they could

[1:10:19] change the duration they can do whatever I mean if this is that's the work of

[1:10:24] future board and we can't tell them what to do or how

[1:10:28] to do it is there a mandated ceiling yes I mean of Mills yes yes that

[1:10:35] is the 9.7 so they can't increase Beyond 9.7 correct without a constitutional

[1:10:41] change of some kind correct statutory change of some sort statutory change

[1:10:46] sorry

[1:10:58] okay we're in discussion for the county portion going to

[1:11:05] 8.5 who was the maker of a motion sorry pass that R the duration keep me

[1:11:13] on line we're in discussion for the duration and I'll look for a

[1:11:21] motion I'll move it we indefinite wef I'll

[1:11:28] support move by supported by

[1:11:33] Robinson all those in favor

[1:11:37] I opposed thank

[1:11:44] you now we're to the point where we've got the form filled

[1:11:52] out and honestly it's

[1:11:58] this is what appears essentially what appears on

[1:12:02] the ballot I I guess I didn't explain that

[1:12:05] very much but the ballot language for this

[1:12:09] particular limitation proposal is statutorily defined and it pretty

[1:12:17] much comes up to something that looks like this form right here

[1:12:31] and that'll be in the if we move it on to the full board then there of course

[1:12:35] we'll take the next

[1:12:52] step will that actually be the ballot language Ben

[1:12:56] yes yes y okay we always debate questions and have

[1:13:02] Council this came out of council this is uh one of those things

[1:13:07] that the board will not have any

[1:13:12] um they can't change

[1:13:15] it okay I'll look for a motion to move this on to the County Board a

[1:13:21] recommendation so move Mr Baker

[1:13:26] support Mr eeken questions or

[1:13:35] comments all those in favor I I opposed

[1:13:45] thank I would like to thank all of you for taking your time out to be here I

[1:13:51] know it was a uh beautiful summer day and you probably all had better things

[1:13:56] to do but uh I appreciate your work as Citizens and your help and at this point

[1:14:03] uh we'll put this to the board and make plans for that

[1:14:08] afterwards so Mr Dawson comment was just going to say I think

[1:14:13] they're finalizing the minutes because we need to have we need to have uh

[1:14:17] because this body they public comment too yes we have another public comment I

[1:14:21] want to give the I wanted to give the clerk a few minutes to put her minutes

[1:14:25] together so that we can finalize those Mr selector understand that but I think

[1:14:29] we probably because I I I was a little confused on the agendas because I saw

[1:14:35] two of them at one time um but

[1:14:41] um if we approve the meeting minutes before the final public

[1:14:45] comment then the people that choose to speak are not recorded in the minutes

[1:14:55] you're correct on

[1:14:59] that I make a motion to amend the agenda to approve the minutes after the final

[1:15:05] public comment I'll support by Mr SL supported by Mr

[1:15:10] Robinson is that right did it welcome to the seat you can't tell

[1:15:15] who's speaking to amend the agenda for public

[1:15:19] comment to happen now all those in favor I I opposed

[1:15:25] thank you okay an opportunity for second public

[1:15:33] comment and please state your name for the uh the minutes good morning my name

[1:15:38] is Jim Ruff uh for fairness I want you to know that I'm I am uh running for the

[1:15:44] 10th District commission seat and um I have a extensive

[1:15:51] background from the city of Lancing I chose to live in Eaton

[1:15:57] County uh when I was sarily uh almost dictated to live in the

[1:16:04] city of Lancing uh but uh that was before school

[1:16:08] of choice and a lot of different things that go on with families well I

[1:16:12] appreciate greatly the efforts that have been put into this uh uh packet of these

[1:16:17] packets of information both the budgets and and that I would encourage that U it

[1:16:23] gets down to the Simplicity of dollar and cents uh while these are all very

[1:16:28] difficult uh Concepts to relay to the public I think it has to be simplified

[1:16:34] much greater

[1:16:36] uh like today knowing how much money gets goes into a Township or a county

[1:16:44] and what that means if it's being reallocated as it is that doesn't that

[1:16:51] doesn't talk dollars and cents uh to people and that's what

[1:16:55] people are having to go through at this time is counting pennies their own

[1:16:59] pennies and so I think it behooves the other aspect of this is my understanding

[1:17:04] just like with the township uh section uh where uh that point two or

[1:17:12] excuse me the one mil they don't have the townships do not

[1:17:17] have to collect that much is that correct it's my understanding they're

[1:17:23] set at a limit and so it behooves the township trustees to evaluate what

[1:17:29] they're going to need in the coming year and not just spend it because it's been

[1:17:34] authorized well if the same is true for the county then if it's as an indefinite

[1:17:40] period it it will uh be imperative for future

[1:17:46] Commissioners to be responsible on a yearly basis and not just throw

[1:17:52] everything against the wall because that's going to be a problem in the

[1:17:57] future and we've seen that in the past my understanding with some of the

[1:18:02] contract negotiations that have occurred in the past that uh have been had to be

[1:18:08] resented had to be reset to save uh funds for the remaining County and so uh

[1:18:16] while this may be set at a indefinite period uh we also have to understand

[1:18:24] that uh elections have an impact and uh contracts have an impact

[1:18:32] uh for employees and so uh I'm I've been on both sides of that as an employee and

[1:18:38] as a manager and as such uh you have to weigh those impacts and that will be

[1:18:45] very important for the Commissioners in the future as well as uh the

[1:18:49] administrators of the of the County uh because not always what's good for today

[1:18:55] is going to be helpful for tomorrow and uh that will be a very

[1:19:00] important aspect on how this is addressed and I think it will take a

[1:19:04] commitment by the Commissioners that when especially now that Commissioners

[1:19:10] are going to be on four-year terms that during that four-year term

[1:19:16] minimally uh we're going to be looking at uh doing what we can with what we

[1:19:24] believe is necessary for that year in collections and so on as we look from

[1:19:29] year to year and so it it uh it really I believe uh well I I appreciate all the

[1:19:37] the data that's in this I think it's overwhelming to the public and it has to

[1:19:43] be simplified the message has to be simplified and uh to make this something

[1:19:50] that can get the Buy in that's necessary for it to be approved

[1:19:55] uh it as uh as it's desired by not only the uh staff of the county but also by

[1:20:02] hopefully the citizens because uh security is so important to this uh

[1:20:08] County and especially in its location and because when you need it you need it

[1:20:15] right and so uh it's uh it's very important that way I appreciate my uh

[1:20:20] impact or my interaction with County uh

[1:20:26] employees uh I've had to work with the county clerk's office often enough and

[1:20:32] so on and with uh different offices so I'm I'm pleased with uh the staff

[1:20:38] they're always very pleasant and so I give that comment as well and appreciate

[1:20:43] the opportunity to be here and to address this uh committee thank you

[1:20:50] thank

[1:20:53] you any other public

[1:21:00] comment cam are you ready with the minutes yes would you like to read them

[1:21:06] back

[1:21:10] please okay the Eaton County tax limitation committee met in special

[1:21:14] session at the county facilities in the city of Charlotte Thursday June 6 2024

[1:21:19] including the availability of virtual attendance by the public Chief Deputy

[1:21:24] Kim Morris called the meeting to order at 10:00 roll call Who present Dr Shawn

[1:21:29] Williams Intermediate School District superintendent Robert Robinson County

[1:21:34] Treasurer Blake Moulder Ways and Means Committee chairperson Roger ekin Board

[1:21:40] of commissioner's appointment Michael Baker Probate Judge appointment and Kern

[1:21:44] selector Township's appointment absent none Chief Deputy Morris asked for

[1:21:50] nominations for chairperson of the tax limitation committee Mr Ean nominated Mr

[1:21:55] Blake Moulder Dr Williams supported there were no further nominations for

[1:22:00] chairperson a roll Co a roll call vote was taken with six voting a and nonone

[1:22:06] voting nay motion carried Mr Ean moved the approval of the agenda as presented

[1:22:11] seconded by Dr Williams Mr Moulder noted that comment will be limited to five

[1:22:16] minutes motion carried Mr Moulder spoke about the purpose of the committee

[1:22:21] public comment Terry Sadler prosec Lloyd Sheriff Reich chief judge Cunningham and

[1:22:28] commissioner chairman M spoke in favor of the tax limitation

[1:22:32] proposal discussion held on the current tax limitation allocation Deputy

[1:22:38] Administrator Human Resources Director Dawson asked Mr selector and Dr Williams

[1:22:43] if they had any comments from the townships or the Intermediate School

[1:22:46] District at this time Mr sctor stated he reached out to Township supervisors and

[1:22:52] they have no comment at this time Dr Williams gave a brief overview of the

[1:22:57] Intermediate School District funding and stressed the importance of Public Safety

[1:23:01] in the county a brief presentation was given by Mr Dawson and County controller

[1:23:06] administrator soie of the state of County Mr Robinson moved the township

[1:23:11] allocation of 1.00 mil Mr sler supported motion carried Mr sler moved the

[1:23:19] Intermediate School District allocation of 0.20 mil Mr Robinson supported

[1:23:25] discussion held motion carried Mr Eon moved the county of Eaton allocation of

[1:23:31] 8.50 MS MR Robinson supported motion carried Mr ekan moved to approve the

[1:23:38] separate tax limitation proposal Mr Robinson supported motion carried Mr Ean

[1:23:44] moved to approve the separate tax limitations be established for an

[1:23:48] indefinite period Mr Robinson supported discussion held motion carried

[1:23:56] Mr Baker would move to approve Mr Baker move to approve the

[1:24:05] separate and

[1:24:10] established and establish the separate tax limitation proposal to the Eaton

[1:24:15] County Board of Commissioners Mr Ean supported motion carried Mr Selter moved

[1:24:21] to amend the agenda to move the approval of the to after public comment Mr

[1:24:26] Robinson supported motion carried public comment Jim Ruff spoke in opposition of

[1:24:32] the tax limitation proposal and then we are there

[1:24:41] yes so you want me just to speak of The Proposal spoken reference to spoken

[1:24:48] reference

[1:24:51] to okay Mr Jim Ruff spoke in reference to the tax limitation

[1:24:56] proposal that is it now we're to the motion of the minutes and

[1:25:01] adjournment motion to approve the minutes support Mr sctor Mr

[1:25:06] eeken questions or comments all in favor I those opposed

[1:25:14] thank you again thank you for all serving today I appreciate your being

[1:25:18] here and taking the time out thank you in the audience for coming and and

[1:25:22] visiting and giving us your input um now the hard work falls on us but

[1:25:28] this first this is going to go to the ways and means and then to the full

[1:25:32] board on June 20th on June 20th on June the 20th the full board I don't think it

[1:25:39] goes to ways means do it okay thank you everyone we adjourned

06-06-2024 County Advisory Tax Limitation Committee

Transcript