The Milan News-Leader
A Heritage Newspaper
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Police face layoffs
Mayor looks to hold police budget in line with last yearís $1.3 million
By Brian Cox, Staff Writer
PUBLISHED: May 10, 2007
Mayor Owen Diaz's threadbare $5 million budget for next fiscal year, which he presented to the City Council Monday night, calls for trimming $180,000 from the Milan Police Department.
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The measure, which calls for laying off a patrol officer and not filling the position of a departing dispatcher, among other reductions, raised the hackles of several council members, who questioned the motive behind the cuts.
"I believe we're putting a police officer out there as a sacrificial lamb to show we made cuts to the department," said an impassioned Michael Armitage, who is a former police dispatcher for Milan and plans to run for mayor in November. "What cost do we want to put on peace of mind?"
The budget, if approved by council at its May 21 meeting, would reduce the number of Milan patrol officers from seven to six.
Armitage and Councilman Brett Moyer argued that the reduction would jeopardize public safety by increasing response times and by often leaving the department with only one officer on patrol.
"This is not necessarily the best for the community," Moyer said. "These are essential services. This is about public safety. Two full-time patrol officer positions have already not been filled, to cut another one is not a risk I'm willing to take."
Moyer said the cuts were "above and beyond" the balanced budget.
But Diaz, who draws a distinction between public safety and police services such as fingerprinting, said Police Chief Jeff Lewis had assured him that public safety would not be adversely affected.
"We have room to reduce expenses without compromising public safety," Diaz said after the meeting. "I think the police have enough funds to meet the basic needs of the department."
Last month, Diaz instructed Lewis to find additional reductions in the police department's $1.4 million budget in the area of 15 percent, in order to keep the budget in line with last year's $1.3 million. Lewis presented council with three options, ranging in savings from $133,000 to $197,000.
"Any option I put forward here I believe will truly affect service," Lewis said at the time, declining to categorically state whether the options would impact public safety because he did not "have a crystal ball."
The mayor said he sought the additional savings to begin restoring the city's fund equity balance, which has dwindled to about $67,000, or less than 1 percent of the general fund. A fund equity balance should approach 10 to 15 percent of a city's budget.
Diaz said he is concerned about the future of Automotive Components Holdings LLC, which accounts for close to a third of the city's tax revenue, and believes shoring up some savings is critical to the city's fiscal survival.
ACH is currently arguing to have its property taxes reassessed before the Michigan Tax Tribunal, which plans to hear the case sometime in August. City Administrator Dan Bishop said he expects the tax tribunal to rule in ACH's favor, which would require municipalities such as Milan to reimburse ACH possibly hundreds of thousands of dollars.
"ACH will get something," Bishop said. "How much, I don't know. There is a lot of stuff we need to start positioning ourselves for."
Bishop said the city's finances remain perilous.
"We're not sure we're going to be able to make payroll in June, July and August," he said.
Taxes will not be collected until the end of August and a bond payment on the wastewater treatment plant of more than $900,000 is due by the end of May. Bishop said he soon plans to seek council approval to float a "tax anticipation note," a type of cash advance.
The mayor's budget likely will not pass with full council support, according to Armitage, who said the cuts to the police department were a deal breaker.
"I'm pretty firm that I won't support an option that includes laying off a police officer, Armitage said. "I don't see the possibility of a compromise."
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