Grand Traverse County commissioners got a first look at the county’s 2017 budget Wednesday – plus approved two millage proposals and green-lit a redesign of the Commission on Aging board.

Budget
County staff unveiled a $37.1 million general fund budget for 2017 Wednesday – the first opportunity commissioners had to review the document ahead of a looming December 31 approval deadline.

The budget represents a two percent decrease over 2016, with many departments tightening spending – though no staffing positions were cut, said County Finance Director Jody Lundquist. While the county used $500,000 from its fund balance last year to balance the budget, it did not dip into the fund this year, Lundquist said.

“It’s a very conservative budget,” agreed County Administrator Tom Menzel. “We fully funded our pension payment for this year…and we’re investing in the organization itself, which is badly needed.”

The budget includes $450,000 for investment in IT infrastructure. County staff blamed outdated technology for the deletion of a database of personnel data earlier this fall – a glitch that delayed the budget process by several weeks. Investing in IT will help the county “become a high-performing organization that is proactive rather than reactive,” staff wrote in a budget report.

The final version of the budget is still subject to several outstanding factors, including union negotiations over employee healthcare premium increases in 2017. Staff presented a draft that accounted for a premium hike to 20 percent on January 1 – not the 15 percent compromise now under consideration by bargaining units. The budget does, however, earmark $150,000 in contigency funds for 2017 related to the healthcare dispute. Also potentially impacting expenditures, Commissioner Carol Crawford vocalized her intent next week to have commissioners revisit their decision to eliminate board salaries in 2017 – a move that cut $100,000 from next year’s budget.

Those and other spending-related issues will be reviewed at a second budget meeting Wednesday (Dec. 14), at which time the budget could be adopted and approved. Commissioners expressed their general support of the balanced budget presented by staff Wednesday night – though some expressed frustration over the tight timeline for its review, noting the fast-track could necessitate ongoing budget revisions throughout 2017. Lundquist also pointed out that the county will still have to grapple with its roughly $60 million pension debt going forward.

“The budget is balanced, but that debt still exists,” she said. “Every year those costs will increase, and every year we will have less resources (for services).”

Millages
Also at their Wednesday meeting, commissioners approved two proposals that will change how a trio of recent voter-approved millages are applied.

The board voted 4-2 to roll back a millage for Commission on Aging (COA) services in 2017 – a move expected to put $750,000 back into taxpayers’ pockets. County administrators recommended the rollback due to a projected $1.6 million fund balance that “far exceeds the needs of the (COA).” Commissioners Crawford and Sonny Wheelock opposed the motion, citing their desire to see the funds spent on seniors as voters mandated.

“Taxpayers overwhelmingly gave us the message they want our seniors to be well-cared for…(we should) take care of everybody who needs it before giving this money back,” said Crawford. Wheelock noted the millage rollback didn’t need to be set until next September and recommended making “sure we’re meeting all the needs of the seniors who need services” before reducing the millage. The rest of the board, however, backed the recommendation by staff, who noted COA will still have over an $800,000 fund balance after the millage reduction.

Commissioners also unanimously approved asking Traverse City officials to exempt three county millages from the city’s new TIF 2 plan. The motion will request that captured funds from the COA millage, a .1 mill senior centers millage and a .15 mill veterans affairs millage be returned to those entities instead of being used by the Downtown Development Authority.

COA Board
Finally, commissioners Wednesday approved a staff recommendation to redesign the COA board – a move that will effectively dissolve the existing 10-member board and replace it with a four-member advisory board. In a memo to commissioners, Menzel wrote the existing board structure has created confusion about the role of board members in policy-making and day-to-day operations, and said that 60 to 80 percent of COA leadership staff time was spent supporting the board rather than running the department.

COA Board Member Bill Rokos criticized the redesign during public comment. “Going from a citizens board to an administration panel will only move forward the current administrator’s dictatorial style of government,” Rokos said. COA Chair Rodetta Harrand, however. defended staff’s recommendations, saying Menzel was the only county administrator in recent years “to realize the liabilities we have (at COA) and the changes that need to be made.”

The four members of the new advisory board could be appointed in the first quarter of 2017, according to the proposal.