article courtesy of MorningSun
Alma residents could see a small tax hike to avoid city cuts.
In order to avoid more cuts, a millage or introduction of a special assessment may be in the future for Alma residents.
“The reality of it is that state revenue sharing has been reduced to an amount that’s disabled most cities,” said Matt Schooley, interim city manager, on Tuesday. “Tax law has changed and what we can collect has been reduced from (what it was) in the past. The reality is it’s not coming in at the same rate it’s used to because those revenues have dried up.”
Alma has lost $5 million in revenue since 2002 from state revenue sharing not being fully funded, according to the Michigan Municipal League.
In 2005, the city’s general fund balance was $3.1 million and it recorded $2.8 million in the general fund balance, according to the 2017 unaudited amount.
The other options surrounding its fiscal year 2018-19 budget, which goes into effect July 1, 2018, include proposing a city income tax, balancing the budget by making cuts, or continuing operations as normal but balancing the budget by taking money from the city’s fund balance.
“They (the public) obviously don’t want us to cut. I think the public has made that abundantly clear,” said Mayor Greg Mapes on Monday after the city commission’s work session at the Alma Public Library.
Now, the discussion will move to the city commission’s meetings; the most recent meeting took place Tuesday at the Alma Municipal Building.
“There’s a lot of work to be done before we make any decision, certainly,” Mapes said.
He said questions that need to be asked including the cost to residents and what can be achieved with money from a millage or special assessment.
On Monday, Schooley echoed Mapes’ comments about the best option.
“I think the idea of creating more revenue through a millage or special assessment is the most viable option for us,” he said.
He said other options could be proposed in the future.
In a presentation, Schooley indicated that each option has direct consequences on employees and residents on how the city will operate moving forward, and no matter which option is chosen, some restructuring at the city will be done.
“Ultimately, our goal is to work on the options the commission sees as the most viable that carries the best chance of success for our future,” Schooley said in his presentation.
Commissioners Roxann Harrington and Roger Allman were not present for the session, and commissioner Nicholas Piccolo and vice mayor Melvin Nyman left partway through the session.
