Tuesday elections show tax-wary voters; omen for Ann Arbor?
By Ryan Beene
Tuesday elections around the state confirm what Ann Arbor officials likely already know: Voters will sometimes pass tax hikes, but they’re wary.
The city is considering a new income tax of 1 percent for residents and businesses and 0.5 percent for nonresidents working in Ann Arbor.
Like nearly all Michigan cities, Ann Arbor is trying to close a budget gap as state revenue sharing dollars and property tax revenues have eroded. Requests for tax hikes in Tuesday’s elections had mixed results. In Oakland County, 53 percent of voters in Bloomfield Township approved a 1.3-mill public safety millage, but proposals in Troy and Berkley were defeated by large margins.
Troy had asked voters to approve a 1.5-mill, five-year millage increase to stave off policy layoffs and closing its library, nature center, community center and museum. Sixty-three percent voted no.
Nearly 70 percent of about 7,800 Berkeley voters rejected a proposed $167.5 million bond issue for school improvements.
A spot check of other elections around the state also showed mixed results.
It’s unclear whether the Ann Arbor tax will go before voters on the August or November ballots, but City Administrator Roger Fraser suggested surveying voters about the issue at a city council meeting earlier this month.
The Ann Arbor Area Chamber of Commerce has not taken an official position on the tax. A survey of chamber members conducted last August when the new income tax issue was raised by the city showed 74 percent opposed.
“I would think that (the income tax) would be an easier sell if it seemed that there has been more progress on some of our more historical concerns,” said Kyle Mazurek, vice president of government affairs for the chamber.
Among the reforms sought by the chamber are transitioning city employee benefit packages from defined-benefit to defined-contribution and bringing health-care costs more in line with the private sector by increasing city employee co-pays and premium contributions, Mazurek said.
“Those are two ongoing, historical concerns that I think if the city were to come to the business community and (seek income tax support) we would want to see movement in those areas,” he said.
One area in which Ann Arbor has made progress in reforms sought by the business community is sharing services with other governmental groups, Mazurek said. Ann Arbor and Washtenaw County recently merged emergency call centers and consolidated data centers earlier this year.
The chamber wants to see additional similar reforms before it would consider supporting the issue.
Also watching results around the state are officials in Grand Rapids, where voters in May will consider a proposal to increase the city’s income tax from the current 1.3 percent to 1.5 percent for residents and businesses is.
Grand Rapids Area Chamber of Commerce CEO Jeanne Englehart has urged its members to vote against the proposed increase.
No Citations Issued Since Ann Arbor Adopted a Graffiti Ordinance
Saturday, November 21
By Art Aisner, Special Writer, Ann Arbor Journal
Despite its controversial inception, Ann Arbor's updated graffiti ordinance has not been used once since it was implemented in the spring, city officials said.
But that doesn't necessarily mean it hasn't been effective.
It even could mean the exact opposite, some proponents say, as more property owners take the initiative to remove spray painted words and other images from their businesses and surrounding grounds.
Since April, officers with the Ann Arbor Police Department's Community Standards Division have received roughly 50 graffiti complaints throughout the city, but have not had to issue a single citation to property owners, said supervisor Mike Rankin.
There could be several reasons, he said, but it's certainly less than anticipated given the extensive debate by city officials over the ordinance's inception.
"It was a very hot-button topic, but hasn't been as evident as we were led to believe," Rankin said. "There was an element of alarmism to get it enacted at the time because of a feared surge that I don't think we've really seen here."
That doesn't mean there is a lack of graffiti in the city or available targets, but they tend to get cleaned up quicker without involvement from the city, which was essentially what city leaders wanted.
The city already had an ordinance declaring graffiti a blight issue and a misdemeanor crime punishable by up to 90 days in jail, in most cases.
But it was rarely enforced and resulted in few criminal prosecutions.
Assistant City Attorney Bob West said it's an ordinance used so infrequently that he has a hard time remembering the last time to he had to prosecute a graffiti case.
He said he'd be surprised if it occurred 10 times during his long career with the city.
"I don't see a lot of graffiti around town. Maybe it's a fad that has run its course," Assistant City Attorney Bob West said in an interview last month. "People are taking care of their stuff, which is a good thing."
However, there was no incentive for property owners to ensure the graffiti was cleaned up in a timely manner.
City Council passed an amendment that gives property owners 24 hours to remove graffiti before they are cited with a civil infraction. They would also get billed for the time city employees spent cleaning the property.
Rankin said it was a compromise that was not overly punitive to property owners, but at the same time made it clear that leaving graffiti was bad for marketing commercial development in the city and was not going to be tolerated.
Downtown merchants, the most impacted by the changes, also appear to be satisfied, said Maura Thomson, executive director of the Man Street Area Association.
The association and the Ann Arbor Area Chamber of Commerce backed the initiative in an effort to give the city as many tools as possible to combat what could become an economic problem, especially during the current recession.
"Research and studies show that graffiti breeds graffiti, and if we can nip it in the bud and get rid of it quickly, it can prevent it from getting much worse," she said.
"You don't think of it all the time, but the aesthetics of our downtown is part of why people come downtown, and safety plays a big part in the perception."
Thomson said the city's Downtown Development Authority also helped by providing grant funds for graffiti-removing materials to business owners free of charge. That service is still available and the materials are being used, she said.
Much of debate in the public domain centered on definitions of graffiti. The ordinance, which was adopted in January, states:
"Graffiti constitutes a public nuisance and means any mark or marks on any surface or structure made without the prior permission of the property owner and made in any manner, including but not limited to, writing, inscribing, drawing, tagging, sketching, spray-painting, painting, etching, scratching, carving, engraving, scraping, or attaching. Chalk marks on sidewalks are not graffiti. Graffiti does not include any posting of posters."
Rankin said determining art may be subjective, but the issue of permission is not.
"Some would argue that it's art, and it very well may be. But it's art without the property owner's permission, and you have to consider if it is offensive in any way to such a diverse community."
Their biggest challenge is enforcing the ordinance with the reality of dwindling resources. Rankin's unit currently has nine dedicated officers that enforce municipal ordinances for parking, solid waste, sidewalk accessibility, vegetation and signage nuisance properties.
That number is down 25 percent from the previous year, and the city's budget projections for the coming fiscal year aren't looking much better.
As a result, the current graffiti enforcement is largely complaint driven given staffing needs and the department's overall approach to stretch resources further during the economic downturn.
As budget process drags on, lawmakers weigh businesses and state programs
Sunday, October 11
By Nicole Aber, Daily Staff Reporter
State legislators in Lansing have a lot on their plates as they search for an elixir to the state’s budget gap before the end of the month.
Amid this treacherous rush, lawmakers are forced to juggle the competing demands of a business community looking to attract more companies to a state with record levels of unemployment with an increasingly jobless public who rely on state programs like welfare and the Michigan Promise Scholarship to get by.
Since missing the Oct. 1 deadline and narrowly avoiding a long-term government shutdown by passing an interim budget, lawmakers have been working late into the night in the past few weeks trying to get a balanced budget in place before the end of the month.
One of the highly contested portions of these budget discussions will affect all Michiganders: taxes.
The Democratic-controlled House of Representatives and the Republican-controlled Senate both passed various bills last week that involve increasing taxes and repealing tax credits in order to fill the holes left in the pending budget for the 2010 fiscal year.
In general, the Republican-controlled Senate has favored cutting state programs as a solution, while the Democrat-controlled House is looking for ways to increase revenues, like raising certain taxes.
Last week, the House passed three revenue-raising bills with provisions to increase taxes on physicians by 3 percent, freeze the personal income tax exemption and eliminate credits that allow companies to avoid the Michigan Business Tax.
Rep. George Cushingberry Jr. (D–Detroit), chair of the House Appropriations Committee introduced one of these bills, House Bill 5384. Cushingberry said that by making the Michigan Business Tax applicable to more companies, the bill would raise funds for programs like the Michigan Promise Scholarship, which would be cut under the current proposed budget.
In an interview, Cushingberry said that in this situation, he disagrees with a common notion in politics and economics that by increasing taxes on businesses, lawmakers hurt the state’s appeal to companies. Cushingberry said that cutting Michigan Business Tax credits wouldn’t be a hindrance to business in the state, as less than 10 percent of a business’s decision to open its doors is based on tax credits.
“That is one of the minimal factors,” he said. "It’s a spurious argument.”
Liz Boyd, press secretary for Gov. Jennifer Granholm, said Granholm supports the bill, which would generate more than $116 million in revenue for important state-funded programs.
“Gov. Granholm believes that Michigan’s future demands a budget that helps us diversify our economy, attract new investments and creates new jobs,” Boyd said. “Michigan’s future demands a budget that keeps police officers and firefighters on the job and on our streets, and that helps our children afford a college education and protects people at risk during these tough economic times.”
But many GOP lawmakers, like Rep. Dave Agema (R–Grandville) disagree.
Agema said the Michigan Business Tax is both a deterrent for businesses looking to open shop in the state and a strain on existing businesses. Taxing during a recession only exacerbates poor economic conditions, he added.
“The Michigan Business Tax is one of the most onerous taxes in any state,” Agema said. “Businesses need to come here and hire people. That’s how we’re going to get our way out of this recession. And that’s going to have to be a profitable place for businesses to come, both in regulation and in taxes. Right now we’re not that state.”
The bill was passed in the form of a shell bill, according to Rep. Bill Rogers (R–Brighton). This practice allows lawmakers to get a bill passed while postponing the creation of specific details, Rogers said.
“(The) shell bill is a lot of positioning by both parties to get ultimate goals, which in many cases, we as legislators, aren’t privy to,” Rogers said.
Rod Byrne, former chair of the Ann Arbor Area Chamber of Commerce, said C-corporations who file under the fiscal year, which includes many manufacturers, would be most affected by a decrease in tax credits under the Michigan Business Tax.
Though the clear top priority of state legislators is to create a balanced budget, they also need to think about the state’s long-term economic goals, Byrne said.
“Right now the goal seems to be very focused on balancing the budget but if you see economic growth as a means of long-term balancing budgets, you need to find ways to get businesses to come to the state of Michigan,” Byrne said. “Having a high or difficult-to-manage or difficult-to-plan-for business tax is not a way to do that.”
Businesses, initially discouraged by the proposal to eliminate the Michigan Business Tax credit, were greeted with more optimistic news for business taxes late Thursday night in the legislature’s other chamber. The state Senate passed a bill close to midnight that created a plan to generate funds for the K-12 budget, while also getting rid of the Michigan Business Tax surcharge.
This proposed repeal of the 22-percent surcharge will greatly help struggling businesses in the state, according to Jim Holcomb, vice president of Business Advocacy and associate general counsel for the Michigan Chamber of Commerce.
“(It) will have a great impact on economic growth in the state of Michigan,” Holcomb said. “(It will) help provide jobs, help reduce (the) unemployment rate … (It) really took a positive step for Michigan.”
The package of bills passed in the Senate will modify some of the credits under the Michigan Business Tax, which will create additional revenue to allow for the phase-out of the surcharge over three years, Holcomb said.
The phasing out of the Michigan Business Tax surcharge would cost the state about $159 million, according to Rep. Joan Bauer (D–Lansing).
Mike Johnston, vice president for Government Affairs for the Michigan Manufacturers Association, said the various tax increases in the bill would offset the decrease in revenue from the repeal of the surcharge.
But Johnston said Michigan businesses, especially manufacturers — which make up the largest sector of the state’s economy — “truly appreciate” the proposed removal of the surcharge.
Boyd said Granholm’s proposed budget includes the removal of the surcharge.
“The Governor has proposed a balanced budget that funds our priorities and she has also proposed a solution for phasing out the MBT surcharge, which is a priority for the business community,” Boyd said.
Michigan was ranked No. 49 on Forbes’ 2009 list of “The Best States for Business” and holds the No. 50 spot for both the economic climate and growth prospects ranks.
Holcomb said the Michigan Business Tax could use clarification on a number of technical points that will affect business owners.
“If we get this active, it will repeal the surcharge but there still are other issues with many businesses across the state,” Holcomb said. “It’s certainly far from a perfect tax.”
The Senate bill now moves to the House for deliberation.
According to Bauer, the House has “a number of concerns” with the proposal, including the suspension of the earned income tax credit, which helps the working poor.
“There has to be more study of this so we think that this way to raise revenue makes sense for Michigan,” Bauer said.
Pittsfield Township to rewrite master plan
Friday, October 9
Pittsfield Township kicked off its master plan revision process Thursday, an overhaul officials say will help determine future development in the township.
Officials and community members say they hope to have the master plan rewritten by the end of 2010.
On Thursday, about 40 people representing different organizations met at the township hall to form subcommittees that would guide the process.
By state law, townships with planning commissions and zoning ordinances are required to have master plans that govern zoning and land use. Township Supervisor Mandy Grewal said updating Pittsfield's has been one of her top priorities since being elected last November.
"It's time for us to start thinking strategically about who we are," she told the assembled subcommittee members. "When things do pick up (economically), we will have a plan in place to move forward in a coherent and strategic manner."
Grewal added she wants the new master plan to be as much of a policy document as a planning document, meaning it would help township officials set policy rather than simply sitting on the shelf.
"It's going to be the center of what happens in Pittsfield Township from here on forward," she said.
McKenna Associates of Northville was hired by the township board in August to help write the plan. The contract is worth about $70,000, and runs through the end of next year.
Amy Chestnut, senior principal planner at McKenna, outlined the process of developing the plan, which includes public workshops starting in November, design charettes in February, a draft ready by next summer and final approval by the Board of Trustees in winter 2010.
She said public input is crucial.
"We are hoping by this process we plan to have that there is buy-in from the community and we do get action from the plan," she said.
Economic development was also at the top of the priority list, Chestnut added. With increased economic mobility, companies are looking for places that have a well-educated and talented workforce to locate in, she said.
"We want to make sure Pittsfield is a place talent wants to live," she said.
State law requires master plans be reviewed every five years. The township's current comprehensive plan was adopted in 2002, and revised in 2006.
Eight subcommittees were created Wednesday: Special Community Input; Community Infrastructure; Arts, Culture and Leisure; Economic Development; Green; Housing; Open Space, Agriculture and Natural Features; and Transportation and Land Use.
Some of the agencies and organizations represented at the event included the Michigan Department of Transportation; the Ann Arbor Transportation Authority; U.S. Rep. John Dingell, D-Dearborn; the chambers of commerce of Ann Arbor and Ypsilanti; and Washtenaw County.
The Web site for the "2010 Pittsfield Plan" will contain a calendar of events, planning documents, and places for citizens to provide input on the process.
Freelance reporter Dan Meisler can be reached at danmeisler@gmail.com.
Ann Arbor Chamber Announces Results of Survey and Roundtable Discussions on Proposed City Income Tax
Friday, August 14
The Ann Arbor Area Chamber of Commerce recently conducted a member-wide survey and 2 roundtable discussions on the proposed Ann Arbor city income tax. The measure, if enacted, would tax residents and businesses at a rate of 1 percent, and non-residents at a rate of 0.5 percent.
Of the approximately 300 members surveyed, 57 percent indicated that a city income tax would affect their decision to work at a place of employment in Ann Arbor; 62 percent indicated that such a tax would impact their decision to operate or expand their business in Ann Arbor.
Queried whether they would support creation of a city income tax, 74 percent of respondents indicated that they would not.
Survey results mirror comments received by Chamber staff at 2 roundtable discussions, at which attendees expressed apprehension, questioning the timing, wisdom and underlying assumptions of the proposed tax.
“We felt it was critical for the business community to weigh in on such an important tax issue. We hope that City Council, despite delaying consideration of this matter, sees how critical this issue is to Chamber members and the vitality of Ann Arbor’s business community,” said John Petz, chair of the Chamber’s public policy committee.
For additional information, please contact Kyle Mazurek, v.p. of government affairs, at 734.214.0101.
The Ann Arbor Area Chamber of Commerce is a 1,200-member community non-profit organization that actively facilitates, educates, and advocates on behalf of its members through our services and programs. Chamber member offerings include numerous networking opportunities and events, educational seminars, leadership development, member-to-member discounts and access to health insurance.
Congressman Dingell's Rehiring, Retraining & Relief Fair
Thursday, September 3
Romulus Athletic Center
35765 Northline Road, Romulus
10am - 2pm
The purpose of this free event is to create a venue in which employers can meet with potential employees and to give individuals a chance to network with various professionals. It will also offer free counseling and services from various nonprofits and government agencies.
As an employer, you will be able to set up a booth through which you can provide information about your business and meet prospective employees. It will also give you a chance to advertise your services to other companies and individuals.
cost: free
For questions or to RSVP, please contact Kimberlee Trzeciak at 202.225.4071 in Congressman Dingell's Washington DC office or Ryan Werder at 313.278.2936 in Congressman Dingell's Dearborn office.
Coffee Hour with Rep. Byrnes
Thursday, August 6
State Representative Pam Byrnes (D-Lyndon Township) today announced her next coffee hour will be held Monday, August 17, 2009. The purpose of the coffee hour is for Rep. Byrnes to meet and talk with her constituents about the issues they feel are important to them. It is an informal, free event open to the public.
The coffee hour will be held from 9am - 10am Monday, August 17, 2009 at Grand Traverse Pie Company, 291 North Zeeb Road, Ann Arbor.
For more information, call Representative Byrnes' office at 1.800.645.1581.
City Primary Election
Tuesday, August 4
City Elections are held in the City of Ann Arbor every year. Elections are held on the first Tuesday after the first Monday in August (Primary) and November (General). School Board elections and other special elections are held on the first Tuesday after the first Monday in May. Other special elections may also be scheduled for the fourth Tuesday in February as needed. The City Clerk is the City's chief elections officer and is responsible for the administration of all City Elections. One councilmember from each of the City's five wards is elected each year in November. The Mayor is elected in even-year elections in November.
The August 4, 2009 City Primary Election to nominate candidates for the Ann Arbor City Council in Wards 3 and 5 is the next election in the City of Ann Arbor. NOTE: Only City polling places in the Third and Fifth Wards will be open on Tuesday, August 4, 2009. Polling places will be open from 7am – 8pm.
City residents can check their voter registration status on the web by accessing the Secretary of State's voter information center at www.Michigan.gov/vote.
Ann Arbor City Council Candidates
Ward Three - One 2-Year Term
LuAnne Bullington
1801 South Boulevard, Ann Arbor
734.769.0949
Leigh Greden
2860 Gladstone, Ann Arbor
734.975.0840
Stephen Kunselman
2885 Butternut, Ann Arbor
734.975.4604
Ward Five - One 2-Year Term
Mike Anglin
549 South First Street, Ann Arbor
734.741.9786
Scott Rosencrans
3051 Lakeview Drive, Ann Arbor
734.476.7278
For more information about the election or public policy questions, issues or concernscontact Kyle Mazurek, vp of government affairs at 734.214.0101.
source: City of Ann Arbor
Job eliminations, compensation among budget issues Ann Arbor Council must still solve
by Judy McGovern | The Ann Arbor News
Sunday May 10, 2009, 1:05 AM
With a week before their scheduled completion date, Ann Arbor City Council members meet Monday to work through outstanding issues in the proposed 2009-10 and 2010-11 budgets.
City Council members have raised only a few questions at public sessions so far and may have different subjects on their minds. But there are a handful of known issues on the table:
• Ways to restore funding for popular programs cut in the administration budget recommendations.
• Adjustments to reflect the $257,281 reduction in state revenue announced this week.
• And a change in a proposal for generating roughly $350,000 a year through new parking meters that would operate outside the Downtown Development Authority-managed system.
Mayor John Hieftje said he'd also like to discuss the possibility of retaining some of the community-standards officers' jobs scheduled to be eliminated under the proposed $85 million budget.
The elimination of six of those positions leaves community-standards with four employees. The community-standards employees enforce parking regulations and ordinances like litter and snow-removal. The four positions untouched in the budget focus on the city's "clean community" effort, Hieftje said.
Hieftje said he asked Police Chief Barnett Jones to be at Monday's session to talk about his plan for having sworn officers handle parking tickets.
In addition to those issues, City Council members may also opt to respond to businesses' concerns about a new permit system for using loading zones.
The charge for the permits is modest: All told the fees are expected to generate just $4,000 a year, said Tom Crawford, the city's chief financial officer.
Nevertheless, retailers like Mark Hodesh, owner of Downtown Home & Garden, are worried about occasional delivery vehicles that don't have permits and the likelihood of aggressive enforcement. "This is a big deal," Hodesh said.
Members of the business community have also spoken through the Ann Arbor Area Chamber of Commerce, which has urged more caution on revenue projections and lamented the plan to eliminate downtown beat cops.
In a position statement generally supporting the proposed budget, the group also lamented what it described as "unsustainable" employee benefits.
The proposed two-year budget does call for reducing the cost of employee compensation and benefits each year. To protect the city's negotiation position, budget documents are silent on targeted figures. But city officials have discussed their strategy.
The approach is to establish a bottomline cost with unions and non-represented employees, said City Council Member Leigh Greden.
Then it's up to groups of employees to decide whether to put more in their paychecks and less into benefits or the reverse, said Greden, a member of the council's budget and labor committee.
"We don't care what they do as long as the total cost is where we need it to be," he said.
Management employees and others not represented by unions make up about 20 percent of the city's workforce.
The compensation for those employees may be resolved before the budget is approved, though that's not guaranteed, Greden said.
The compensation for nonunion employees influences what agreements the city is able to strike with represented staff members. And with police and firefighter positions being eliminated and numerous taxpayers in difficult financial positions, the resolution is of more interest than usual, Greden acknowledged.
"I think the mayor characterized the situation well when he said we're in a serious situation and everybody's going to have to share the pain," Greden said.
The council work session is Monday at 7 p.m. There's no public comment period at work sessions. The City Council will meet in regular session May 18. It's expected to approve a budget then.
Budget at-a-glance
The city of Ann Arbor's fiscal year runs July 1 to June 30. Although city officials are required to approve a budget for each fiscal year, they plan in two-year cycles.
• The proposed budgets for the 2009-10 and 2010-11 fiscal years call for reducing spending to $85 million and $82 million, respectively, to pull spending back in line with shrinking tax revenue.
• Revenue from real estate taxes is expected to shrink 1.2 percent in fiscal year 2009-10 and 5.2 percent in 2010-11.
• Property tax revenue is expected to fall from about $54 million this year to $51.5 million in fiscal 2009-10 and $48.9 million the following year.
• Property taxes provide 60 percent of the city's revenue. Residential property makes up about two-thirds of the tax base.
• The proposed budget is on the city's Web site, www.a2gov.org. Follow the "our town city budget" link in the column titled "living in" at the center of the page.
Judy McGovern can be reached at 734.994.6863.
Budget, Bridge, Ball Fields, Booze, Bugs - Council readies itself for budget decisions
by Dave Askins
May 10, 2009
Ann Arbor City Council Meeting, Part I (May 4, 2009): Despite assurances from Mayor John Hieftje that he’d be surprised if Mack pool and Leslie Science Center weren’t funded, city council heard from several advocates of those facilities Monday night, along with supporters of Project Grow and the senior center.
Audible through the expressions of support for programs facing cuts was also a call for the council to focus attention on bigger ticket items. One of those bigger ticket items was a mediator-mandated agreement with the Ann Arbor Police Officers Association union, which council was constrained by state law to approve – an agreement that will cost the city about $650,000 more than it had anticipated. Another was approval of the early retirement option for police officers as a part of the employees retirement system, which the city is offering instead of mandatory layoffs.
Still another big ticket item surfaced in the form of the approval of an application for funding of the East Stadium bridge reconstruction – though it’s likely to be paid by federal tax dollars. The bridge fit into the general theme of transportation at the meeting, which showed up in the form of an agenda item authorizing a study for a north-south intra-city connector (which was postponed), as well as a lengthy discussion on the Ann Arbor transportation plan update, which was ultimately adopted, despite some sentiment for postponing it. [These items are reported in detail in Part II of our meeting coverage here.]
In other business, council approved two agreements with the public schools for operation of recreation facilities, gave initial approval to a revamped liquor licensing code for the city, and approved an amendment to the partnership agreement between the city and the Leslie Science and Nature Center. [This last accounts for the last word in the headline.]
Early Retirement for Police Officers
Karen Sidney: Speaking during public commentary reserved time, Sidney began by describing the proposed early retirement plan [to reduce positions in the police department starting in FY 2010 and with the fire department in FY 2011] as fiscally irresponsible. Retirement benefits in the system, she said, are already more expensive than the public can afford. She said everyone would like to be able to retire when they’re 40 years old and get lifetime health insurance for their families at a cost of only $500 per year. For University of Michigan employees, who’ve seen their TIAA-CREF accounts fall in value, a pension at 60% of one’s salary would look great. She said that it’s even better if you can work angles in the system with overtime, vacation, and sick time to improve on the 60%. She alluded to a case a few years ago when some firefighters achieved a pension bigger than their base salary. She suggested that the five councilmembers [on the Budget and Labor committee: Hieftje, Margie Teall, Marcia Higgins, Leigh Greden, Stephen Rapundalo] could use layoffs at zero cost to the city to reduce the police force, but said it would be embarrassing to have a public ruckus about police layoffs while the city is building a new police/courts building.
Kyle Mazurek: [Mazurek's comments are included in this part of the meeting report because of item (4) below.] Mazurek spoke during the public hearing on the budget, identifying himself as the vice president for government affairs of the Ann Arbor Area Chamber of Commerce. He alluded to an email he’d sent to councilmembers from which he pulled some highlights. The highlights from the letter itself include one addressing the city’s plan to offer early retirement to police officers as well as a general characterization of employee benefits as “unsustainable”:
1. concern that commercial property values have fallen further than the city has forecasted.
2. objection to the proposal to eliminate downtown area foot and bicycle police patrols.
3. concern about the city’s jeopardizing the Downtown Development Authority’s independence by asking the DDA for monies to cover city expenses.
4. costs associated with the one-time payout to cover retirement system contributions for early retirements would place the city general fund reserve target range of 12% to 15% at risk.
5. application of a 4% fee on water/sewer services runs counter to the notion of demonstrated need as defined by actual cost of providing service.
6. elimination of community standards officers will result in diminished ticketing capacity and a corresponding decline in ticketing revenue with the additional loss of crime deterrent.
While allowing that the quality and transparency of proposed budget data and information had improved, the chamber’s letter urges the city to explore opportunities for “earlier public presentation of the proposed budget thus affording greater public scrutiny and dialogue with regard to it.”
Resolution: Add to the Early Retirement Option for Police Officers
A key element in the resolution provided for the city to provide to eligible employees two (2) years of service credit (as determined in accordance with Section 1:561(a) of the Pension Ordinance), which will be applicable to eligibility for retirement, as well as calculation of pension benefits.
Officers also have the option of purchasing up to a year of service credit.
Councilmember Sandi Smith asked for some clarification. City administrator Roger Fraser allowed that Karen Sidney’s characterization of the possibility of retiring at a higher rate of compensation than their base salary would have been possible eight years ago, but was no longer the case. He said that the only real benefit to the deal was being able to retire early. Outcome: Passed unanimously.
Resolution: Approve the Ann Arbor Police Officers Association Collective Bargaining Agreement
The state of Michigan’s Act 312 outlines requirements for compulsory arbitration of labor disputes for police and fire departments. The Ann Arbor Police Officers Association exercised its right to arbitration, which resulted in
Effective April 1, 2009, a redesigned health care plan which adds deductibles of $250.00 single and $500.00 family per year with increased co-payments for office visits and chiropractic services and cost differentiation between brand and generic drugs with mandatory mail order for maintenance drugs and a pro-rated $500.00 HRA deposit for the 2008-2009 contract year for each active employee, as well as a $500.00 per member health care bonus for low health care utilization for the July 1, 2006-June 30, 2007 period;
• A 2.5% wage increase, effective July 1, 2006;
• A 1.75% wage increase effective July 1, 2007;
• A 1.25% wage increase effective January 1, 2008;
• A 3.0% wage increase effective July 1, 2008;
• Effective February 24, 2009, a wage structure change will be made to increase the educational bonus for members who have obtained an associate’s degree;
• A reduction in certain double time overtime payments to time and one half;
The city has included $927,000 in the fiscal 2009 general fund budget for pay contingencies, but the cost of the contract settlement for the three-year period is expected “not to exceed $1.6 million.” The resolution considered by city council on Monday appropriated an additional $673,000 from the general fund reserve to cover the cost of the settlement.
In deliberations, Leigh Greden (Ward 3), who sits on the budget and labor committee (along with Hieftje, Higgins, Rapundalo, and Teall) expressed his dissatisfaction with Act 312 itself, saying that the process needs to be changed at the state level “to reflect local financial realities.” Mike Anglin (Ward 5) asked if there was any possibility of accepting “some but not all” of the agreement mandated by the arbitrator. The answer from city attorney, Stephen Postema, was no. Outcome: The collective bargaining agreement was passed unanimously.
Budget (General)
While much of the public commentary on Monday night addressed specific programs, some of it address more general issues, or else focused on general principles using specific examples to illustrate.
Paul Bancel: Bancel said that the Community Television Network was an underutilized professional organization. He suggested that when councilmembers looked at the budget, they’d see $1.5 million for allocation by the charter to community television. “It’s up to you to make it relevant,” he said. With the demise of the Ann Arbor News, he said, there was an opportunity to upgrade CTN to make it a professional organization that brings the community the most relevant and up-to-date news. He named three organizations not currently shown on CTN: the Downtown Development Authority; Ann Arbor District Library; and the Ann Arbor Public Art Commission. [The DDA board meetings are now starting to be videotaped with equipment installed at DDA offices for later airing on CTN. The April meeting's taping had issues with sound quality. No word yet on how the May taping went.]
Karen Sidney: Speaking during the public hearing on the budget, Sidney noted that the city had a $350 million budget. But most of the discussion, she said, will be about a few hundred thousand dollars of cuts to popular programs. What about the big ticket items, she asked? Why are safety services positions down more that others? Based on peak employment figures in 2001, the police department is down 26%, fire department is down 37%, and other departments except for the city attorney’s office and the IT department are down 24%. The attorney’s office and IT department have more employees than in 2001, she said. Why? she wondered. The benefits tax millage in 2001 paid more than 100% of the cost of retirement benefits, she pointed out. Last year it paid less than half the cost of retirement benefits. By 2014, she said, it will pay for only 25% of the cost. To make up that gap with increased taxes would require a homeowner with $100,000 in taxable value to pay an extra $600 a year in taxes. Alternatively, she said, we could eliminate the police department. Or we could sell city property. She wondered if the map included in the city’s budget presentation – which depicted all the tax exempt properties in the city – was the beginning of a PR campaign to sell city parks. [Note: The letter sent by the Ann Arbor Area Chamber of Commerce to council outlining its position on the budget proposal includes the sentence: "The Chamber believes that the City is well positioned to realize significant revenue generation through policies promoting the sale of City owned land, as well as greater private development." cf. Kyle Mazurek's turn during the public hearing.]
Jim Mogensen: Mogensen said that he wasn’t enough of a gardener to know whether it was perennial or annual, but there were a number of things that kept on coming up over and over again as possibilities for cutting: the civic band, Project Grow, Mack pool, and similar programs. The reason for that, he said, was that they’re funded through the budget, but there’s nobody really in charge of them. Mogensen said it wasn’t individual programs that he was responding to, but rather the structure of the budget. He compared the budget to a movie set where there are a lot of buildings but nothing behind the facades. He drew an analogy to football: In Ann Arbor, you fake left and run right! We have a lot of things in place to make it appear that we’re working on things, Mogensen said, but the budget is really pretty thin.
Glenn Thompson: Speaking during the public hearing on fee adjustments in the community servcies area, Thompson said that he’d inquired at a recent farmers market commission meeting why the fees for stall rental at the market were being increased. [For example, the cost for a single stall per year would go from $250 to $300, which is expected to generate an additional $2,900. The increase would take effect on July 1, 2009. The last fee increase was July 1, 2004.] Thompson said he’d been told that the reason was for salary increases and a percentage of the additional cost of a newly created position of deputy manager of parks and recreation. While he’d heard the council speak often of the efforts to reduce staff and improve efficiency, he characterized this step as “empire building as usual.” Adding another layer of management, he said, not an improvement in efficiency, either. As to whether it made the city “lean and mean,” he said that while it didn’t make the city lean, asking vendors to pay more was, indeed, “mean.”
Karen Sidney: Speaking during the public hearing on fee adjustments in the community services area, Sidney noted that the budget proposal includes a 4% safety services fee for water and sewer, which residents will notice when they pay their water bill. The idea is that water/sewer facilities require police protection. Sidney began by sketching out some history of attempts to use funds from other sources to pay for police protection. She cited $250,000 from the parks millage that had previously been proposed to be used for police protection in parks. She noted that an early version of the financing plan for the new police/courts facility included a provision to take 1.5% from the water/sewer bill to help pay for the building’s construction. At this point, Hieftje interrupted Sidney to inform her that on the advice of the city attorney [Stephen Postema], he wanted to suggest that she make her remarks during the public hearing on the budget, because this one was meant to address only the community services area fee schedule – of which the 4% fee increase was not a part. Sidney said that she had something else to say during that part of the agenda, and wrapped up quickly by saying that such fee increases amounted to “backdoor tax increases,” and encouraged council to focus on getting city costs under control. [The 4% safety services fee is an internal service charge, as opposed to a water rate hike. The consequence of applying such a fee could be that the rate for water would go up.]
Thomas Partridge: Partridge reflected on the fact that he’d been elected as his high school student body president the same fall that John F. Kennedy was elected. He called for an advanced center for social research to be added to the budget to focus on real funding for affordable housing. He called on council to reverse plans and to save the senior center. To seniors he said, “Take heart, take courage, stand up, and lead.”
Paul Lambert: Lambert said that he’d learned that council was contemplating cutting money from the human services division. [The plan for FY 2011 calls for cutting $260,000 from the human services allocation.] In this time of great general need, he said, he didn’t understand how that could be considered. He cited Martin Luther King Jr. as saying that a community would be judged by how they treated the least affluent. He said that council was funding “all kinds of Disneyland bullshit,” which in good times might be a good idea. But cutting human services to fund them was unethical, he said, and encouraged council to reconsider.
Program in Jeopardy: Ann Arbor Senior Center
Margaret Leslie: Leslie said that she was there to protest the proposed closing of the Ann Arbor Senior Center. She noted that it was an important community resource for seniors who’d become isolated due to retirement, loss of spouse, or distance from their nearest family members. She also noted the emotional and intellectual enrichment that was provided there. She concluded by saying that we needed to ensure that the senior center continues to operate after July, 2011.
Program in Jeopardy: Mack Pool
Matt West: He said he’d been swimming at Mack pool for the last six years as a part of the masters swimming program. He asked all those in the audience to don their goggles and stand and support. [In The Chronicle's field of view were at least a dozen people who did.] He asked for more time to address the budget shortfalls. In particular, he said Mack pool users support the plan that allows them until July 2010 to turn around the finances. He cited the cross section of the community that used the pool, and highlighted the handicapped access ramp. Instead of being a liability on the balance sheet, he suggested, Mack pool could become an asset – by making it a “green pool” and increasing revenues through increased usership and swim classes. He cited his own experience using the pool to train to help guide a blind athlete in triathlons in different parts of the world – which would not be possible without the masters swim program at Mack pool.
Malloria Miller: Miller allowed that she didn’t know much about the budget, but said that swimming at Mack pool had helped her quite a bit, specifically in the area of health (as a diabetic it helped her keep her blood sugar down) and friendship. She said it had helped her overcome some of her fears: “I can swim now!!” She said she felt like she’d found a family at Mack pool.
Alma Fisher: Fisher approached the podium in a wheelchair and finding that the microphone was unreachable asked, “How wheelchair accessible is this?” [There is a hand-held mic available, but it took a few minutes to track down.] Once she was provided a hand-held mic, she said that she lived at Miller Manor and was there to support the Mack pool contingent. She noted that she was in a wheelchair, so getting to a pool could have been a hardship. But because she lived just cross the street, getting to the pool was not a hardship. She said it was nice to have a neighborhood pool without being run over by “jocks.” She allowed there were “jocks” who swam at Mack pool, but said there’s a lane for slow swimmers.
Kristin Burgard: Burgard related how swimming at Mack pool had helped her through postpartum depression. She described swimming as a “sanctuary.” She said that even though she still didn’t feel good, it helped “take the edge off.”
James D’Amour: D’Amour appeared wearing swim goggles around his neck, and said that swimming had had a great positive impact on his life. He referenced his background serving on the recreation advisory commission and planning commission in the past. He said he hoped that a way to keep all of the various programs that had been mentioned could be found. He found it inappropriate that the Park Advisory Commission had “robbed Peter to pay Paul” in suggesting that Mack pool be closed earlier than originally proposed, in order to save the Leslie Science and Nature center. He said he appreciated Christopher Taylor’s willingness to volunteer to be on the recreation advisory commission. He suggested there needed to be some improvement on both sides for the city and the school system in working together.
Ed Sketch: Sketch said that people might be trying to place his accent as “extreme east Boston, otherwise known as England.” He described a “good better best” scenario, noting that the “bad” outcome would be the loss of the the pool services. The good option would be to keep it open through July 2010 originally, which was a wise idea. He passed around 30 letters from first graders at Mack School on behalf of the pool. Other grades were also working on letters, he said, but the first graders had “lived up to their name.” The better plan, which is now in outline form, would be to promote greater usage, increase fees for non-seniors, and increase the public schools’ contribution. The best plan would be to implement solar heating and replacement of chemicals for purification of the water to create a “green beacon.”
Program in Jeopardy: Leslie Science and Nature Center
Adela Pinch: Pinch spoke in support of the Leslie Science and Nature Center. She stressed that the scientific content at LSNC is a vital part of her child’s education comparable to what they received in the Ann Arbor Public School system. She praised the staff as outstanding educators who are as passionate about teaching children as they are knowledgeable.
Eleanor Pollack: She encouraged council to maintain funding for LSNC. Though she no longer had school-age children, she said, she believed that the funding should be continued at a time when the federal and state governments are stressing the importance of science education. LSNC offered a hands-on approach, which she said is not possible in our school system.
Ryan Shea: Shea introduced himself as a 9th grader at Community High School. He said he’d been involved at LSNC for nine years starting out as a camper when he was five years old. He stated that he volunteered there during summer and throughout the year. He mentioned that LSNC works with the local schools. He said that on a recent trip to Traver Creek with his 9th-grade science class looking for water bugs, they’d come across a 5th-grade class from Northside School. The Northside group was led by someone from LSNC and they were also fishing in Traver Creek for water bugs. He said he “found that to be really cool” because his was a class of 9th graders and they were a class of 5th graders – learning the same material. Shea said he would like other students to have the opportunity to experience the same thing.
Marc Smith: He said he was speaking as a resident and on behalf of the National Wildlife Federation. His children had enjoyed the programs at the LSNC. He described the LSNC as a “crown jewel” of Ann Arbor. He said that the NWF had participated in negotiations to create the strategic plan to eventually put the LSNC on independent footing [the center was previously a part of the city]. That had resulted from the fact that the NWF had recognized a rare opportunity to work at the local level. The proposed cuts, he said, would undermine the sustainability plan that had been worked out, and thus he encouraged council to restore the funding.
Frances Wang: Wang said that she had four children who were attending five different local (double-enrolled) schools. She related a recent anecdote to illustrate the impact of LSNC. After the LSNC had visited her five-year-old son’s preschool, she said, they were walking down Washington Street going to the YMCA. Her son spotted a plastic owl sitting on a second story balcony, and said, “That’s a great horned owl!” He began to hoot at it like he’d learned they did in class, and was at first puzzled that it didn’t hoot back. But he concluded that the owl must be asleep, “because owls are nocturnal.”
Joe Reilly: Reilly spoke on behalf of LSNC, where he said he’d been happily employed for four years. He reflected on the symbol of the city of Ann Arbor – the Burr Oak. He said it was his personal favorite. It illustrated how they taught children about community – the tree housed a commmunity of organisms within itself. He invited everyone to come take a walk in the woods.
Program in Jeopardy: Project Grow
Sheri Repucci: [The budget proposal would eliminate funding of $7,000 for Project Grow. Last year, the $7,000 had already been eliminated from the budget, but the budget was amended later to include the funding.] Repucci said that until recently she’d been a staff member at Project Grow, in charge of the Discovery Garden, which serves seniors, children, and people with visual handicaps. She emphasized that most of the gardeners grow food, not flowers. She presented her remarks as a response to a memo written by community services administrator Jayne Miller. Miller noted that the Project Grow balance is equal to one year’s budget. [By way of comparison to this 100% fund balance, the city of Ann Arbor's budget includes a fund balance of something like 12-15%.] Repucci explained that this was due to the fact that Project Grow’s income comes in all at one time [garden plot rentals]. The reason for the fund balance, she said, was that it would take a full budget cycle to replenish the reserve fund. In response to Miller’s memo, which suggested that Project Grow was not partnering with other organizations, Repucci noted that it was the the University of Michigan’s Matthaei Botanical Gardens that stopped the process of a possible partnership there. [Previous Chronicle coverage of part of that effort is here]. As for the suggestion that Growing Hope was a potential partner, she said that because Growing Hope did not fund staff, they had a different funding structure that was incompatible with Project Grow’s. As for the possibility of partnering with Food Gatherers, she said that there was some collaboration [e.g., some Project Grow gardeners donate food they grow to Food Gatherers], but Food Gatherers has its own struggles with funding.
LuAnne Bullington: Bullington said that she was a volunteer at Project Grow, and it was the only place she knew in the area that offered raised garden beds at Leslie and raised beds that are accessible to seniors, little kids, and people with visual impairments. After having gardened at a raised bed, she said, she didn’t think she’d ever go back. She stressed the food-growing capacity of the program, saying that she grew food for other people at her plot. She lamented the fact that expansion of Project Grow plots into city parks has encounterd roadblocks. She concluded by pointing out that the amount of money at issue was only $7,000.
Council Response to Programs in Jeopardy (Leslie and Mack)
Christopher Taylor in his communications to council thanked the members of the Park Advisory Commission for a “high degree of good faith and diligence” in bringing forward to council an affirmative recommendation. However, he said that he expected that council would be making a different recommendation, which the mayor had alluded to at the start of the public hearing.
At Higgins’ request, Fraser said that the recommendation on the table currently (not PAC’s recommendation) was to close Mack pool this summer when other pools are open and to re-open again in the fall.
In his communications to council, Mike Anglin (Ward 5) said that he was impressed by all the hard work that PAC had done, but wondered if the work was really necessary – it might have been unnecessary if there had been clearer communication between administration and PAC. [Anglin and Taylor are both ex-officio members of PAC, and attended that commission's April meeting, at which the funding recommendations were approved.] Taken as an umbrella concept, Anglin said, the commitment to a “healthy city” – a prerequisite to being a “green city” – would lead council to support the programs under discussion.
Community Services Resolution: Leslie Science and Nature Center
An item that was originally a part of the consent agenda – extracted by councilmember Sandi Smith – was a resolution to approve an amendment to the restated partnership agreement between the city of Ann Arbor and Leslie Science and Nature Center. Jayne Miller, director of community services, said that the original agreement was for 10 years, but that the time period was somewhat problematic for attracting support through donations. The proposal was thus to extend the time period to 20 years. Outcome: Passed unanimously.
Community Services Resolution: Shade Structures at Fuller Pool
The second item extracted from the consent agenda by councilmember Smith involved a contract to construct shade structures at Fuller Pool for $46,335. Smith wanted clarity from Jayne Miller, director of community services, about how the work was getting paid for. This, apparently was to clarify if the same money could have been spent on Mack pool operations and maintenance. Miller said that the money was being paid out of the old parks capital improvement millage, which can only be spent on capital improvements, not operations and maintenance. The new, combined parks millage allows for more flexibility, Miller said. Outcome: Passed unanimously.
AAPS: Ball Fields and Cultural Arts Building
Council considered two resolutions involving agreements with the Ann Arbor Public Schools. They’re related thematically to the Mack pool issue, because that facility is operated by both the city and schools – it has frequently been expressed during the commentary on the Mack pool facility that a more equitable arrangement could be achieved between the city and the school system for its operation.
On Monday, council adopted agreements with the schools concerning the operation of two facilities. The first was a lease agreement for theEberbach Cultural Arts Building.
The schools will now pay the city $9,900 in “capital facilities payments” and rent of $1. The $1 lease comes with a set of obligations for the schools:
In exchange for the $1.00 annual rent payment, the Ann Arbor Public Schools will be responsible for maintaining the premises in a condition that is satisfactory to the City and will perform the following responsibilities at its sole cost and expense with respect to the Premises: (1) custodial upkeep, (2) snow removal and exterior grounds care, (3) maintenance and repair of the parking lot, (4) maintenance and repair of the heating, ventilation, air conditioning, plumbing and electrical systems, (5) installation and maintenance of exterior signs identifying the Building, (6) interior painting, (7) general inspection, repairs and maintenance, including at a minimum, all items listed in the Inspection and Maintenance Schedule. In addition, the Ann Arbor Public Schools will be responsible to provide all utilities for the Premises, including electricity, heat, air-conditioning, ventilation, water, and sewer services as well as a insure the Premises, at its expense, against loss or damage.
The other agreement with the schools concerned the recovery of the city’s costs in preparing fields for use by the school’s Rec & Ed program. Highlights:
The services provided by the City include mowing, field grooming, removing trash and loose litter, opening and closing restrooms, and making ball field repairs. The proposed fees are listed as follows:
Ball Field Usage - Resident - $21.00 per booking
Ball Field Usage - Non-resident - $24.00 per booking
Ball Field Grooming Fee - $80.00 per grooming
Ball Field Anchor Placement Fee - $121.84 per anchor placement
Outcome: Both resolutions specifying the agreements between AAPS and the city were approved.
More Coverage
Editor’s note: Coverage of the meeting continues here. The articles have been broken apart due to apparent limitations of either browsers in reading or else the WordPress platform in publishing super-long articles. We continue to explore alternatives to our Meeting Watch presentations that strike a useful balance between the granularity of detail and the summary of content with a more timely publishing schedule – a week is a long time to wait. One possibility we’re entertaining is live Twittering, copyediting that feed with reader collaboration.
Young Leaders tell Lansing what it takes to make them stay
By John Bebow - May 7, 2009
EDITOR'S NOTE: Last night, the Center for Michigan hosted a blunt dialogue between legislators and nearly two dozen entrepreneurs and young professionals. It centered on one question: what does Michigan need to do to attract and retain talented young people. Jack Lessenberry, Michigan's ace political correspondent and a Center for Michigan Steering Committee member, attended the dinner and presented these observations on his Michigan Radio show:
I attended a fascinating, off-the-record dinner in Lansing last night. It was sponsored by the non-partisan Center for Michigan, and brought a bipartisan group of legislators and some of us other old- timers together with young people in their 20s and early 30s, entrepreneurs doing their best to spark new life in this state.
Updated: Mayor assures Ann Arbor residents on funding for Mack Pool, Leslie Science Center
by Judy McGovern | The Ann Arbor News
Monday May 04, 2009, 7:11 PM
Ann Arbor Chamber stakes out some new positions on downtown development
Posted by Judy McGovern
Thursday, April 02, 2009
With a little more than a month before the expected adoption of a new zoning plan for downtown Ann Arbor, the chamber of commerce has staked out some new positions.
The business group:
• Opposes caps on building heights.
• Discourages the expansion of historic districts.
• And suggests that the boundaries of what's know considered the downtown area may ultimately be too restrictive.
The first issue, height limits, comes into play as the Ann Arbor City Council makes final decisions on the downtown zoning plan known as A2D2 (for Ann Arbor Discovering Downtown).
Although the city has long controlled height based on lot size alone, enough council members are now talking about some cap that it's seemed likely a limit would be added to the A2D2 plan.
There were about forty people in the room, and conversation was free-flowing back and forth between the tables. Suddenly, a word popped into my head that I haven't much used in a long time.
Generation gap. Some of the legislators just couldn't, or wouldn't, hear what the successful young people were saying.
One especially eloquent young man from Ann Arbor asked if the lawmakers had any idea how much damage they were doing by zeroing out the tiny arts budget. An especially dense state senator didn't seem to understand what he was talking about. The senator responded by parroting a moss-covered GOP talking point about reducing spending, then, after a time, stuffed some papers in a briefcase and left.
Other lawmakers, to my dismay, also drifted off, for the sort of meetings with lobbyists and constituents that fill up their days and nights. (And some with legislators with young children hurried to get home for bedtime stories.) These are frantic times, and even the new lawmakers were becoming delightfully cynical about the people they represent. Right now they are scrambling to balance a budget that is over a billion dollars out of whack. All day, they'd been getting calls from interest groups demanding "Don't cut me." In many cases, these were the same folks who also demand "don't vote to raise taxes."
But while some rushed off to appease their masters, a number of the brighter young lawmakers stayed to the end, and, I think, learned something. The young entrepreneurs weren't interested in the usual dreary Lansing debates. That's not the world they live in. What they care about was this state, which they see as a wonderful place to live. They want to make it better, and make it a place where their children and grandchildren can afford to live someday.
They transcended politics -- but haven't quite given up on it. Most of them don’t want to pay more taxes, but they also knew that civilization has a price. Virtually all of them thought the present political leadership of this state had essentially failed them.
They wanted, to my surprise, a strong governor capable of exercising leadership. They thought Jennifer Granholm had failed totally on that score. But they weren't inspired by her opponents, or by any of the wannabee candidates for governor.
They thought our alleged leaders were all clinging too strongly to the remnants of the dying auto culture. They should instead, they believed, be trying to identify what was coming next.
But regardless, most of them seemed determined to hang in here and drag Michigan into the future. "Every year I think about leaving, and sometimes I do, but I always come back," one young woman said. "This is a tremendous place to live."
That, more than anything any of the politicians had to say, gave me a strong glimmer of hope.
University Musical Society eliminates five full-time jobs in midst of economic woes
May 7, 2009
Times continue to worsen for the local arts community.
The University Musical Society has eliminated five full-time positions through layoffs, attrition and job restructuring, and cut salaries by up to 7 percent for those who remain, according to UMS marketing director Sara Billmann.
"Every area of the organization is being impacted," she said.
UMS is the primary non-profit producer of arts events at the University of Michigan.
The layoffs come as arts groups struggle with dwindling corporate support and the proposed end to arts funding from the state. Gov. Jennifer Granholm wants to eliminate state funding completely by closing the Department of History, Arts and Libraries, which oversees grants made by the Michigan Council for Arts and Cultural Affairs.
UMS is awaiting payment of $89,000, the final installment of this fiscal year's MCACA grant. "We're hanging tight and waiting to see what happens there," Billmann added. "Next year we're obviously anticipating things will be really different because of the governor's proposal to eliminate MCACA funding."
The total amount UMS was slated to receive this fiscal year from the state is $206,700. That's around 2.8 percent of the UMS' total budget of $7.5 million
As far as cooperate support is concerned, "we're working harder for less return," Billmann said. "Obviously the market is just drying up in that area. We're doing better than many organizations but it's a real struggle.
Overall, the organization has trimmed its budget by about 12 percent, with a slimmed down season set to start in the fall.
The situation is similar at the Ann Arbor Symphony Orchestra, which laid off its development director in January. His duties were assumed by Mary Steffek Blaske, the A2SO's executive director.
The symphony is also suffering the effects of decreased gifts, which are down about 35 percent for the first half of this year, however no other layoffs are planned, Blaske said.
"The music has never been better and that's the irony of all this," she added.
Meanwhile, the Ann Arbor Area Chamber of Commerce recently sent a letter to Gov. Granholm and the Michigan Legislature asking them to continue funding for arts grants.
"We hope that the state considers arts funding as an economic development tool, and urge it to continue to invest in arts and culture as one means of redressing Michigan's economic woes," the letter stated. It went on to say that the elimination of these funds would be detrimental to the vitality of Ann Arbor's downtown area, would jeopardize the health and well-being of all Ann Arbor area arts organizations and would potentially inhibit the state's ability to capture approximately $800,000 annually from the National Endowment for the Arts to give to Michigan arts organizations.
The MCACA made grants totaling $518,000 to Ann Arbor based arts organizations in fiscal year 2009, according to the letter.
Swimmers wearing logo shirts and - in some cases - swim goggles packed Ann Arbor's City Council Chambers on Monday night, hoping to persuade city officials to keep Mack pool opened.
They were among several groups lobbying the council to keep funding in place for various services, including the pool and the Leslie Science Center, as the city looks to cut spending in its updated budget plan for the next two years.
Mayor John Hieftje told 75 or so people in the audience prior to the start of the public hearing that he was confident that funding for the operation of Mack pool and the Leslie Science Center would be continued. Hieftje also said city officials would set up "working groups" with residents to ensure that such programs survive going forward.
Swimmers who use the Mack pool are already working on a plan to increase revenue at the pool to cover the city's $59,000 a year appropriation.
The proposal to close the pool or turn its operation over to the school district is one of many in a two-year budget plan before the City Council. In addition to those addressing the pool issue, supporters of the science center and the non-profit Project Grow also spoke during the 90-minute session.
A staffer from the National Wildlife Foundation, a partner with the science center, urged council members to continue its $39,000 appropriation. Losing the money would mean ending revenue-generating programs, which would put the center in a downward spiral.
The proposed budget for 2009-10 and 2010-11 calls for reducing spending to bring it in line with tax revenue that's shrinking for the first time in memory. Income from property taxes is expected to fall 1.2 percent in the fiscal year that begins in July and 5.2 percent the following year. Residential property makes up about two-thirds of the city's tax base.
Police and firefighters positions would eliminated along with a number of other city jobs. The number of employees would drop to 746.
Karen Sydney, a regular critic of the City Council, faulted the plan to offer buyouts to the senior members of the police department. The city isn't shy about using layoffs in other areas, she said, suggesting that city officials wanted to avoid any protests that might be embarrassing when a controversial new police station is under construction.
City officials have said the buyouts will lead to retirement of the mostly highly compensated officers and have 4- to 5-year payback.
Kyle Mazurek of the Ann Arbor Area Chamber of Commerce said the business group wished city officials would reconsider the elimination of the city's community-standards officers and downtown beat cops.
Council members are scheduled to take up the budget at a work session Monday 5/11 and to adopt a budget May 18.
The proposal to close the pool or turn its operation over to the school district is one of many in a two-year budget plan before the City Council.
The Chamber's position coincidentally mirrors that of the Planning Commission. But it's unclear either will influence city officials still reeling from the controversy over a proposed 20-25-story housing complex at 601 S. Forest.
Eventually scaled back (or down), that project is now on hold pending financing. But its proposed size - and community reaction - reshaped at least some council members' views of height restrictions.
While they won't come into play right away, the chamber's other stances are no less significant.
In addition to the new downtown zoning, the city also plans to review the zoning for so-called "near downtown" neighborhoods later this year. A push to allow more density would likely enter into that review.
Similarly, homeowners in one of those neighborhoods - west of William Street - have talked about creating a new historic district.
The City Council shot that down earlier in the year. But the homeowners were serious and feel threatened by proposals for developments in that area .
It's fair to say that the developers interested in projects like the Moravian (former the Madison) and City Place will welcome the Chamber's position, says Kyle Mazurek, VP Government Affairs for the group. (PDF of Chamber of Commerce policy statement)
The same may be true for the younger community members who've attended public meetings to support higher-density residential projects and exposed something of a generational divide.
But for others, many of them existing property owners, the new positions may amount to fightin' words.
Business Environment Policy Statement
Revised and Adopted March 24, 2009
Encouraging and fostering responsible business growth is essential for a healthy and vibrant Ann Arbor area community. The following principles support this goal:
By encouraging businesses to locate, grow and thrive in our community, we strengthen the area’s economy, ensure diversified job growth and increase the tax base to fund essential services;
Recognizing that a healthy business environment requires an efficient and responsive government regulatory system, we encourage intergovernmental cooperation and consolidation where appropriate to reduce costs, as well as delays and uncertainties in permitting, approvals, inspections and licensing;
Businesses should not be disproportionately burdened with taxes, fees, assessments or licensing requirements;
Higher density development as a means of growing business while efficiently using existing infrastructure should be encouraged in Ann Arbor and corridors outside Ann Arbor as part of a commitment to responsible growth. This applies to both residential and commercial development and should be integrated with a comprehensive transportation network;
Current City planning documents and zoning laws should be reevaluated in light of the Ann Arbor Transportation Plan Update’s land use recommendations. Resulting revisions should permit and encourage increased density near current and future transportation corridors in order to more effectively facilitate viable mass transit opportunities;
The impact on local business should be considered when making land use decisions, such as greenspace and development rights purchases, to ensure such decisions are appropriate to location and in keeping with the parallel goal of ensuring sustainable business growth and economic development; and
With specific regard to the development of Ann Arbor’s downtown area:
• The downtown area’s decades-old present defined boundaries should be reevaluated and expanded beyond those of both the Ann Arbor Downtown Development Authority tax increment financing district and the current greater downtown area, thus permitting logical, necessary growth for benefit of future generations;
• The definition of the downtown area, as well as development densities, should be closely considered relative to U-M properties and the appropriate development relationship;
• Development densities should be maximized in the downtown area to increase the City tax base, to maximize existing infrastructure, and to increase walkability and efficient use of mass transit and other alternative transportation modes;
• Further downtown historic district expansion should be curtailed, and current boundaries and policies should be reevaluated to more effectively promote development opportunities;
• City staff and officials should approach the redevelopment of structures and parcels in non-historically designated areas with the same zeal and energy they approach protecting structures in historically designated areas;
• Residential development for all income levels should be significantly increased, with an eye toward replacing aged and outdated housing stock with higher density residential development;
• Residential development of an appropriate density should be achieved to support basic daily commercial needs, including grocery and pharmacy, as well as other basic services;
• Downtown building height should not be arbitrarily limited. It should complement the greenbelt initiative and its corresponding ideal of preserving outlying open space through increased downtown area density, which by its nature requires greater height;
• The downtown development design review process should be clear, defined, timely and efficient, coupled with a reasonable appeals process;
• Current City planning documents should be revised to reconcile inconsistencies; and
• An analysis should be undertaken to determine if the community’s vision for the downtown area can be realistically achieved within the confines of the current built environment. If not, densities, planning documents and zoning laws must be revised to reconcile this conflict.
Statement from SBA Acting Administrator on Recovery Efforts Announced by President Obama
Monday, March 16, 2009
The following statement was issued today by Acting Administrator Darryl K. Hairston of the U.S. Small Business Administration following the announcement by President Barack Obama of important steps being taken by the SBA and the U.S. Department of Treasury to address the economic challenges facing small businesses and entrepreneurs across the country.
“U.S. small businesses employ about half our nation’s workers and over the last decade have created about 70 percent of all new jobs. But their access to credit and lending markets has dried up, making it harder every day for small businesses to keep their doors open and their employees working. American small businesses are one of the strongest engines for economic prosperity in the world, and we can’t let this crisis continue to undermine their growth and potential. Today President Obama reiterated his belief that we owe it to America’s small businesses to be the partner they need in the midst of this crisis. At SBA, we couldn’t agree more.
“SBA this week is implementing two key provisions laid out in the Recovery Act – we are temporarily eliminating certain loan fees and raising guarantees on some 7(a) loans up to 90 percent. With these critical steps by SBA, and the Treasury Department’s commitment of up to $15 billion aimed at getting lending markets flowing again, we are standing up with small business owners across this country and telling them how we are going to put much-needed capital in their hands.
“We hope small businesses will take the opportunity to ask their banks about the SBA loans that might be available to them. And, we encourage community banks and other lenders to work with us to reach as many qualified borrowers as we can during these difficult times.”
Beginning today, the SBA will:
• Temporarily raise guarantees to up to 90 percent on SBA’s 7(a) loan program, through calendar year 2009, or until the funds are exhausted. This increase in guarantee levels will help provide banks with the greater confidence they need to extend credit during the current recession, will mean more capital available to small business owners around the country.
• Temporarily eliminate fees for borrowers on SBA 7(a) loans and for both borrowers and lenders on 504 Certified Development Company loans, through calendar year 2009, or until the funds are exhausted. This will mean more capital available to small businesses at a lower cost. The fee elimination is retroactive to February 17, the day the Recovery Act was signed. SBA is developing a mechanism for refunding fees paid on loans since then.
Additionally, the President announced today that the Treasury Department will commit up to $15 billion to help unlock the frozen credit markets by purchasing small business loan securities currently frozen on the secondary market. By purchasing these securities, it will unlock these secondary markets, and in turn, free up more capital to jumpstart lending for small business owners. The SBA has worked closely with the Treasury Department to address the need to unlock these secondary markets for SBA loans.
For more information on the SBA and Treasury initiatives announced today by the President, visit the SBA website.
Transportation Policy Statement
The Ann Arbor Area Chamber of Commerce believes that the Ann Arbor area business community is best served by a comprehensive transportation solution that recognizes the role of transportation as a tool of economic development. The success of our business community requires more transportation options, improved levels of service and better solutions to efficiently transport labor and product.
Michigan is suffering from a severe deterioration of its transportation infrastructure. Maintenance is insufficient to meet the deteriorating condition. Modes of transportation are limited and they are not adequately connected to make them efficient for users. Operational and maintenance costs are not adequately assigned to users to meet current requirements.
The following are components of a comprehensive transportation solution that we believe must be recognized:
- A comprehensive public transportation system, including the availability of adequate parking, is vital to our community’s economic development and the overall quality of life of those within the greater Ann Arbor area;
- Transportation modes, including public transportation, ride sharing, rail, biking and walking should be considered as a part of a comprehensive transportation plan and must be logically and efficiently connected to one another;
- Local commerce is a region-wide asset and concern of both workers and the business community alike who benefit from transportation services extending beyond their own municipal boundaries. Transportation options and solutions therefore should not be limited by municipal boundaries;
- The financial burden of an effective regional public transportation system should not be borne solely by Ann Arbor taxpayers;
- Increasing development density and broadening the mix of uses at transportation transfer points can achieve more effective transportation solutions;
- Detroit Metropolitan, Willow Run and Ann Arbor Airports are among the key economic assets of our community and vital to the success of the business community. Business and individual users are benefited by efficient, cost effective and direct access to terminals;
- Improved transportation options between Ann Arbor and Ypsilanti must be implemented and the resources to support this must be found;
- AATA, UM, EMU, local school districts, MDOT and other transportation agencies and providers must work together to improve route and service options for users and these entities must work cooperatively to lower their fixed costs;
- Transportation systems must be maintained for quality and cleanliness to properly serve the image and reputation the business community needs to compete; and
- Plans for future business park and residential developments considered by local authorities should incorporate easy, commuter-friendly access to public transportation.
For more information, contact Kyle Mazurek, v.p. of government affairs, at 734.214.0101.
Interested in the future of the Huron?
The Ann Arbor Environmental Commission’s Huron River & Impoundment Management Plan Committee is refining its vision for the Huron and you can help. Of particular note to this planning effort is the future of the Argo dam.
Several public meetings to gather community input on the planning effort to date will be held as follows:
January 28, from 7pm – 10pm
January 31, from 9am – 12pm
February 5, from 7pm – 10pm
Meetings will take place at Forsythe Middle School, 1655 Newport Road, Ann Arbor. Further details are available at www.a2gov.org/green.
Please contact Kyle Mazurek, v.p. of government affairs, at 734.214.0101 with questions and concerns.
Update: Proposed City Graffiti Ordinance
In the spirit of compromise, several Ann Arbor City Council members recently reached out to the business community with respect to the proposed City graffiti ordinance.
On January 7, the Chamber hosted a meeting between City Council members and staff, and representatives of the Chamber, Downtown Development Authority, and various merchant associations.
As a result of this meeting, a much more business-friendly graffiti ordinance was proposed at City Council’s January 20th meeting.
While property owners/managers still have an obligation to timely remove graffiti, and the City itself is authorized to remove graffiti and recover associated costs:
-- Fines will not be imposed
-- Violation is not a civil infraction
-- Notice has been extended from 2 to 4 days to 7 to 9 days.
Please contact Kyle Mazurek, v.p. of government affairs, at 734.214.0101 with questions and concerns.
