Troy Council Focuses on Police Services, Fund Balance at Budget Meeting

Monday's subdued  gave council members an opportunity to study, discuss and even debate portions of the 2012-13 proposed budget, with the hottest topics being cuts to the Troy Police Department and continued funding of the .

The session was led by  and Tom Darling, acting director of Financial and Administrative Services; about 15 members of the public also attended the meeting.

Overall, Troy's city budget will decrease by 6.4 percent, from $141.3 million this fiscal year to a projected $132.3 million next fiscal year, Darling said.

"In the public sector, when the economy goes down, demand goes up," Szerlag explained. Simply, he said, the demand for government services is still there, though the tax base from which the city funds the services is still shrinking.

“So what does this mean?" Szerlag asked. "It means that we’re going to add to our fund balance this year, and the next three years we’re going to take from the fund balance.”

According to Szerlag, much of the $1.9 million increase in the fund balance this year is thanks to concessions made by city employees. In 2006, 485 employees served the city of Troy; this fiscal year, the city employed 348 people, and next year, Szerlag said the city will cut a net 29 full-time positions and decrease the number of employees to a projected 319 for the next three years.

A look at the year ahead

Though the situation may sound dire, Darling stressed that the city, despite having to take from its fund balance for the next few years, is not in the red and will likely still maintain its AAA bond rating.

Darling also predicts the city will not have to transfer money from the Budget Stabilization Fund or the Capital Project Fund in the coming years. "We've really reduced (fund balance) expenditure," he said. "We’re not budgeting the use of fund balance to the extent we did in 2012."

Darling added that Troy's property taxes are some of the lowest in the area, falling below nearby cities such as Clawson, Royal Oak, Madison Heights and Rochester Hills. “We are well below any other full-service-type communities," Darling said.

However, he added, although residential property values are finally stabilizing, thereby garnering a more steady income for the city through residential property taxes, commercial property values are still falling in Troy, which has negatively impacted the city's main source of income.

To help make up the difference, Darling said the city will raise its millage rate from 10.19 mills this year to a projected 10.48 mills next year. He noted that the new millage rate falls within the millage rate limits previously approved by Troy voters in past elections. For a resident whose home has a taxable value of $100,000, the millage rate increase would mean $29 more in property taxes next year.

“This shows good financial strength and good responsibility," Darling said.

Concern over cuts at Troy Police Department 

One of the hardest-hit city departments, the has seen a decrease in the number of officers employed and patrolling the streets of Troy – from 85 on patrol in 2009 to just 58 officers now, Police Chief Gary Mayer said Monday.

"We had a decrease in personnel, which has led to the significant reduction in the police department budget," Mayer said. "We’ve adjusted car usage, our equipment, our uniforms, so there have been overall a lot of reductions in our budget."

The effect, Mayer said, is that the Troy Police Department has become, for the first time in many years, a reactive police department instead of a proactive police department. The service level is suffering, he said.

“It’s significantly lower than the service level we’ve given in the past – than the service level people were used to," Mayer said. "They’re not going to have time to work on problems because they have to go on that next call."

Mayer said the department has also cut an entire unit – the Traffic Safety Unit – and redeployed those officers on road patrol to help make up for the shortage in officers.

Some council members expressed concern about the current and future state of the Troy Police Department. “I’m concerned that we’ve taken too much now," Councilman Wade Fleming said. "Let’s keep Troy the .”

Speaking passionately, Councilman Dane Slater also defended the department, saying it has had to make too many cuts, and that trying to add a handful of personnel to the department now isn't a sufficient solution.

"I would’ve preferred to keep a proactive police department, but you can’t add two police officers to our staff now and call it a proactive police department," Slater said.

"For two years we’ve been telling the city what’ll happen, and now reality is here, and now some people don’t like it. I can’t believe what I’m hearing here. This is no secret. The police department isn’t the only group that’s suffered here.  … We’re rotting from within. This city … we can’t attract people here. People are leaving in droves.”

Councilman Dave Henderson said the police department's budget issues are on par with the budget issues of other city departments.

“Everybody across the board … has suffered financially. We can’t help a lot of things, but every family across the board has had to tighten the reigns. ... We’re not asking the city of Troy employees to do anything different than we’ve had to do in our own lives.”

Future of Troy Historic Village uncertain

While the city tightens its purse strings, council members debated funding for the . Museum Director Loraine Campbell implored council to help by continuing to invest in the volunteer-run museum, adding that without funding from the city, the Troy Historic Village may have to close its doors as early as July.

"If any of you, like (Councilman Dave) Henderson, would like to see the village in operation, would like to ... have the $1.50 tour, I would be glad to do that and partner it with a sit-down discussion with those board members, if you want to see those numbers," Campbell said.

While some council members wondered about the necessity of funding the historic site, others, including Councilman Slater, stressed the importance of making sure the museum stays open.

“To shut this thing down in July of this year, it just doesn’t make any sense to me," Slater said. "Let’s give them another year to give it a go. They’ve been working very, very hard. I don’t want to minimize the amount here, but to me it’s worth it to add this on and give them another year, and we’ll revisit it next year.”

A decision regarding the museum's funding was not made during the budget session.

More on the budget

Troy City Council is scheduled to meet for another budget study session on April 30 before formally adopting the budget at its regularly scheduled May 7 meeting.

To download the full 363-page 2012-13 proposed budget in pdf form, click here. The proposed budget is also attached to this article by individual section. For more information, visit www.troymi.gov/budget.