By SUE SUCHYTA
Times-Herald Newspapers
DEARBORN – Following numerous study sessions, the city council approved a $347 million city budget and accompanying tax rate for the 2021-2022 fiscal year during a June 15 special city council meeting.
City Council President Susan Dabaja noted that during the review process, reductions were made by the city council.
“City items in department budgets were reduced by varying amounts, so that we could scale back the budget and to reduce the need to use any general fund fund balance,” she said.
City Treasurer and Finance Director Ginger Burke-Miller read aloud the changes made since the public hearing, which included staffing, material and project reductions.
To review the Dearborn fiscal year 2021-2022 budget online, including the proposed and reduced budget, go to www.cityofdearborn.org/documents/city-budget/fy-2022/june-15-2021-budget-adoption/6078-06-15-2021-budget-adoption-document-set-final/file.
Councilman David Bazzy noted the challenges which the department heads faced to reduce their budgets and to avoid the need for the city to draw from its fund balance.
“I know this body is going to take up discussions on how we determine the use of the money coming from the federal government, which comes with significant strings,” he said. “There are definitive things that this money can be used for, and definitive things it cannot be used for, and one of the things it can be used for is infrastructure.
“So, if somehow this body decides to use some portion of this to be used against this debt millage (for the Combined Sewage Overflow project) on some level, and at that point, we are already going to bill the taxpayers this number, as if we were bonding this, going forward, and how will that get rebated back to the taxpayer, if indeed we make a determination to go in a different direction?”
Burke-Miller said they look at this every year and adjust accordingly, and confirmed Bazzy’s assumption that there would be a downward swing in debt service cost for one year before a normalization of debt structure for CSO the next year.
Sareini thanked the finance team for their hard work.
“As I stated early on, I don’t believe we can spend more money than we take in,” he said. “It is very difficult when you are looking to try to find cuts, and I know that we will have to cut people.”
Sareini said the population of the city has decreased, and he believes the tax rate is one of the reasons why.
“I think that we are headed in the right direction with this budget,” he said.
Dabaja said it is not easy going through a budget, and she is pleased that they came up with a budget that did not require them to use any fund balance.
City Councilwoman Erin Byrnes acknowledged that it has been a challenging year for everyone, both personally and professionally.
“I really have seen our city team pull together, continue to work hard and make the sacrifices to do what’s best for all of the residents in the city,” she said. “So, it is definitely heartening to see, and I think we put together the most solid budget that we can in these difficult times.”
Councilman Robert Abraham said that Dearborn is a unique community with distinct challenges.
“We have legacy costs that I think that no other community can measure up,” he said. “With the amount of money that we put into our post-employment funds, we have some unique challenges. In a lot of ways, I think it makes us better.”
Abraham said it is important to remember that Dearborn is still a leader in this region, and is looked at as progressive and having solutions.
“I think we are harder on ourselves than others are,” he said. “I think it is important to remember that other communities look to us for some of the standards we set.”
Abraham said there is a price tag for the services which the city delivers, and it is important to remember the value which the city delivers to local taxpayers.
“We don’t pay low taxes, but every homeowner in this community gets great value for what’s paid into the general fund and the other taxes they pay here,” he said. “We need to remember that we make a lot of people happy every single day by how our services are delivered by each and every employee.”
City Councilwoman Leslie Herrick said that the city clerk’s office has increasing changes with elections with which they must deal, especially with all of the absentee ballots, and that the cuts that the clerk’s office made may be a concern in the future.
“Fortunately, we do have some flexibility to be able to address those concerns as they arise,” she said.
Herrick said city employees also work hard every day to meet the needs of a diverse population.
“The city works really hard to address all of those needs, as best as we can, every day,” she said. “People realize that they are paying a lot of taxes, but they sleep well at night, knowing that they are secure because of our first responders, and that clean water flows to their homes every morning when they turn on the tap. “Quality of life here in Dearborn is what we are all striving to provide, and we don’t take that for granted, and we work hard every day just to do that within the confines of the budget that we are setting.”