Rochester Hills Legistar System

COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT & VIABILITY COMMITTEE:

Ed Anzek, Scott Cope, Frank Cosenza, Jim Duistermars, Greg Hooper, Kristina Hurst,

Michael Kaszubski, Elise Pawlowski, James Rosen, Roger Rousse

FINANCIAL SERVICES COMMITTEE:

Erik Ambrozaitis, Donald Atkinson, Kurt Dawson, Barbara Holder, Julie Jenuwine,

Jonathan Rea, Kyle Sucher, Alexandra Tatu, Ravi Yalamanchi

PUBLIC SAFETY COMMITTEE:

Ron Crowell, Jim Duistermars, Gary Elliott, Barbara Holder, Andy LeBlanc, Adam

Lomasney, Paras Patel, Robert Smith, Linda Raschke, Gerald Robbins

Community Development & Viability Non-Voting Members Present: Roger Rousse

Community Development & Viability Non-Voting Members Absent: Ed Anzek, Scott

Cope, Kristina Hurst and Elise Pawlowski

Community Development & Viability Committee Members Ed Anzek and Scott Cope

provided previous notice they would be unable to attend and asked to be excused.

Financial Services Non-Voting Members Present: Julie Jenuwine and Kyle Sucher

Financial Services Non-Voting Members Absent: Kurt Dawson and Alexandra Tatu

Public Safety Non-Voting Members Present: Chief Ron Crowell, Capt. Robert Smith,

Andy LeBlanc, Adam Lomasney and Paras Patel

Public Safety Non-Voting Members Absent: None

Others Present:

Jane Leslie, City Clerk

Paul Shmejko, DPS Transportation Engineer

Deanna Hilbert, Leisure Activities Committee Citizen Rep. (left at 11:45)

Emily Burwinkle, Administration & Information Services Committee Youth Council Rep.

City Millage Summary - Expiring Dedicated Millages

Agenda Summary.pdf; Millage Summary.pdf; Suppl Info - Financial

Policies.pdf; Suppl Info - Millage Summary.pdf; Suppl Info - Atty

opinion.pdf; Suppl Info - Tax levies.pdf; 0201 Minutes.pdf

Joint Committee members discussed the issues of dedicated millages and possible

Charter amendments, noting the following:

- The City is approaching the General Fund limit with three large issues pending: 1)

Police Services, 2) Local Roads and 3) Recreation.

- There is no time in 2006 to address the police or roads issues.

- The City should consider a Charter amendment to allow advisory questions on ballots

for issues such as the single waste hauler.

- The millage issues need to be examined in a comprehensive way.

- It is the responsibility of elected officials to provide fire, police, water and road services

for the community.

- An amendment to the City Charter would impact only one portion of the Charter,

whereas opening the Charter could affect the entire Charter.

- A Charter revision is a long, complicated process with a very uncertain outcome.

- Dedicated millages were put in place by the City's founding fathers as a means of

controlling costs and discouraging corruption.

- The Council and administration should work within the existing system and not change

the Charter.

- Any millage renewals should include language that the monies will be added to the

General Fund levy and make them in perpetuity.

- The Charter dictates that dedicated millage can last no longer than twenty years.

- As the three major issues, police, roads and parks, are currently linked to the General

Fund, it may be a natural progression to the supporters of those issues to amend the

Charter and increase the General Fund levy to support them into the future.

- It is critical that the anti-tax activists be engaged in the process.

- All areas being funded from the General Fund could result in Council members

favoring their "pet departments."

- There is an undercurrent of distrust of the local government within the community.

- Many of the suggested solutions would work; the question is which plan can be

passed versus which is the right one to pursue.

- Council and staff must determine the best solution and then educate the residents as

to why it is the best solution.

- The City needs to overcome the negative messages disseminated by the naysayers in

the community.

- There is still time to tackle the police and roads issues before the November 2007

election.

Joint Committee members discussed Policing issues in Rochester Hills, noting the

following:

- Police funding is an ongoing problem and an issue during each budget cycle.

- The City gets "a good bang for our buck" by contracting police services through the

Oakland County Sheriff's Department (OCSD).

- Police staffing is lower on average than other cities of comparable size.

- Current plans call for maintaining the staffing level at 59 officers but does not address

future growth.

- If a funding solution cannot be found it is likely service levels will be reduced.

- There are added benefits to contracting police services, as there are additional

resources available through the OCSD that a municipal police force could not afford.

- While Troy may not seem to be a fair comparison because of its malls and high-rise

buildings, Rochester Hills has two colleges and a hospital.

- The primary concern of citizens is traffic not crime.

- While the OCSD has unwritten mutual aid agreements with other communities, it will

become increasingly difficult to pull from the communities in the future.

- It is within the foreseeable future that officers will have to be removed from the schools

to patrol the streets.

- Removing officers from the schools will reduce the force's ability to prevent juvenile

delinquency, thus resulting in potential long-term economic and social detriments.

- Any additional retail, such as Wal-Mart, not only contributes to an increase in crime,

but also an increase in traffic as well.

- The addition of new residential subdivisions also increases the number of domestic

calls, minor thefts, etc.

- The most prevalent crimes (i.e. burglaries, identity theft, sex crime) must be dealt with

and are often very time intensive.

- The most effective deterrent to crime is a visible police presence and an aggressive

follow--up to crimes committed.

- There are a variety of issues the police are responsible for addressing such as

responding to thefts at retail establishments, violence and drugs in warehouse districts,

schools, etc.

Mr. Yalamanchi questioned whether Tax Increment Financing (TIF) monies resulting

from new development in the City can be used to fund one or two police officers.

Mayor Barnett noted that City Attorney John Staran was in the process of investigating

that option.

Joint Committee members discussed the options for Funding Police Services, noting the

following:

- Police services is the Number One priority in the City and funds will likely have to be

diverted from recreation to support it.

- The City could seek a Charter amendment to fund police services at 1.0 mill, thus

freeing approximately $2.5 million in General Fund dollars to be dedicated to Local

Roads.

- One (1.0) mill for police services would still require the funds from Police Millages I

and II to provide enough funds to maintain current services and increase services into

the future.

- Any long-term solution will require a Charter amendment.

- The police and fire millages could be combined into a Public Safety millage.

The consensus of the joint Committees was to consider pursuing a 1.0 mill General

Fund millage to support police services, thus freeing General Fund dollars to be used for

local roads and the possibility of a Charter amendment that would combine all public

safety funding.

Ms. Holder suggested that a second joint meeting be held in September to pursue

these issues further.

Joint Committee members discussed the Pathways millage issue, noting the following:

- The City's plan is to pave 118 miles of pathways; 82 miles within the system have

been completed.

- The City collected two-thirds of the allowable maximum Pathways millage in its final

year, as there were no pathways projects identified in the CIP.

- The rehabilitation program has been increased from $150,000 to $250,000 per year,

thus justifying the need for a full renewal of the Pathways millage at 1.858 mills.

- The pathways gaps on Adams Road near Oakland University are unlikely to be filled

as the University has determined that it has no intention of giving the City the necessary

right-of-way to complete the project.

- The Pathways plan may need to be revised as it is not necessary that there be

pathways on all major roads, especially if they are not near schools.

- The renewal would be sufficient to fund the current projects in the CIP as well as

additional projects.

- The residents need to understand what they will receive for renewing the Pathways

millage.

- Of the $650,000 per year generated by the full Pathways millage, $250,000 will be

applied for overlays and $160,000 for maintenance and operating supplies, leaving

$240,000 for actual construction of new pathways.

- It can take as long as three years to accumulate enough funds for a construction

project to move forward.

- If some projects are not pursued then the City does not levy the full millage amount.

- If all of the anticipated projects were completed the Pathways plan would result in

approximately a half a million-dollar deficit at the end of ten years, however, it is unlikely

all projects will go forward.

- It may be prudent to maintain the current plan of paving pathways along both sides of

major roads as they are also constructed by developers at their own expense because it

is included in the City's Master Land Use Plan.

- If the Pathways plan were changed, it may be a good idea to include the paving of

pathways on collector roads as well, however, the wording of the expiring millage does

not permit this.

- Federal matching funds will be available over the next several years for the "Safe

Route To School" initiative to make internal routes in subdivisions that lead to major

roads safer for children to traverse on their way to school.

The consensus of the joint Committees was to move forward with a renewal of the

Pathways Millage and to explore possible changes to the Pathways plan. City Attorney

John Staran will be consulted for guidance in terms of ballot language and any possible

changes to the policy.