Stories indexed with the term ‘Washtenaw County Commission’

At its Feb. 16, 2011 meeting, the Washtenaw County board of commissioners passed a resolution permitting the county treasurer to borrow against the amount of delinquent property taxes in all 80 taxing jurisdictions throughout the county, including cities, townships, schools systems and libraries, among others. After March 1, these jurisdictions turn their delinquent taxes over to the county, and are reimbursed for that amount. The county treasurer then assumes responsibility for collecting these delinquent taxes. This is a standard procedure that’s conducted annually at this time of year – the borrowed funds are used for cash flow purposes, to fund operations for the first half of the year.

In a cover memo accompanying the resolution, county treasurer Catherine McClary reported that the amount of delinquent taxes turned over to her office for collection has more than doubled in the past seven years. And for the last two years, the county was not able to self fund the delinquent taxes. McClary expects a small increase in delinquent taxes this year, but asked to borrow the same amount as last year – an amount not to exceed $50 million. However, she expects interest rates to be higher this year than last year, due to the tightening credit markets.

This brief was during the county board of commissioners meeting at the Washtenaw County administration building. A more detailed report will follow: [link] [Full Story]

Washtenaw County Board of Commissioners (May 6, 2009): At Wednesday’s meeting, commissioners got an update on how the county is responding to the swine flu threat, plus a bonus: Every commissioner was presented with a Red Cross personal safety kit. The implicit message was  that the county is prepared for emergencies, be it virulent viruses or something else entirely. Dick Fleece, interim director of the county’s public health department, assured commissioners that funding for the kits came from the feds, not the county’s general fund budget.

Commissioners also discussed a federal grant aimed at helping track purchases of pseudoephedrine. [Full Story]

Even though Congress hasn’t figured out the details of its proposed federal stimulus package, it’s hard to attend a local government meeting these days without some reference to it – the topic was discussed last week at both the Ann Arbor city council and Washtenaw County commission meetings. But with some economic recovery deal expected this week, local officials already have wish lists in hand. [Full Story]

Washtenaw County Board of Commissioners (Feb. 4, 2009): Most of Wednesday night’s board meeting was devoted to a discussion of the county’s budget crisis, but commissioners also heard an update from Josie Parker of the Ann Arbor District Library about the transition of the Library for the Blind and Physically Disabled, and tabled voting on a facilities contract in order to have a later discussion about vendor preferences. They also met some of the administration’s interns. [Full Story]

Washtenaw County Board of Commissioners (Feb. 4, 2009): Faced with sharply lower revenues in the coming years, Washtenaw County government will be dealing with staggering budget deficits and must start making some tough decisions about where to cut costs. At their Wednesday night board meeting, county commissioners heard that grim report from county administrator Bob Guenzel, who estimates the budget deficit in 2010-11 could reach $28 million under a worst-case scenario. And it likely won’t end there. “We don’t know when we’re going to hit bottom,” he said. “It’s just too hard to predict that.”

Guenzel called the financial situation the worst he’s seen in his 36 years with the county, but noted that this was a nationwide crisis. Falling property values and a sluggish housing market have eroded tax revenues – property taxes and fees related to building inspections, real estate transfers and other housing-related services account for roughly 75% of the county’s general fund, he said. [Full Story]

Washtenaw County Board of Commissioners (Jan. 21, 2009): A light agenda for the county board on Wednesday included the presentation of a major art project, a report on efforts to partner with other municipalities for shared services, and appointments of commissioners to various committees. Rolland Sizemore Jr. led his first full board meeting as its new chair, and Kristin Judge led her first meeting as the new vice chair of the Ways & Means Committee – Conan Smith, the committee’s chair, was absent. [Full Story]

Administrative briefing and appointments caucus (Jan. 14, 2009): A staff briefing attended by all but two of the 11 Washtenaw County commissioners on Wednesday evening went quickly, previewing a relatively light agenda for the Jan. 21 meeting – the first full board meeting to be led by the new chair, Rolland Sizemore Jr. Taking up a bit more time was a caucus immediately following the briefing, where commissioners made an initial pass at divvying up committee duties for the year. [Full Story]

County Board of Commissioners (Jan. 7, 2009) In an uncharacteristically short session, members of the Washtenaw County Board of Commissioners were sworn in. They then elected new leaders, adjusted their rules to cut the amount of time given to public comment – and adjourned in less than an hour.

Rolland Sizemore Jr., whose district primarily covers Ypsilanti Township, was elected to chair the commission, replacing Jeff Irwin, who represents District 11 in Ann Arbor. Both are Democrats. Any drama that occurred over the change in leadership happened behind the scenes – no dissenting votes were cast in the election of any officers on Wednesday night. [Full Story]

At its last meeting of 2008 and before adjourning to a post-meeting year-end gathering at Argiero’s, the Washtenaw County Board of Commissioners swore in two new members, got word that the state is cutting back on winter road-clearing funds, heard from the newly elected sheriff on plans to reorganize his department, debated the police services contract and discussed how information was handled regarding an upcoming article in the Ann Arbor Observer. And everyone got a bottle of Calder Diary eggnog to boot – more on that later. [Full Story]

At an administrative briefing attended by five of the 11 Washtenaw County commissioners on Wednesday, the contentious police services contract came up again, as did the issue of protocol for swearing in two new commissioners earlier than usual.

County leases

At its Dec. 3 board meeting, commissioners will be asked to approve a 3-year lease at 2051 S. State St. for the county’s Community Support and Treatment Services (CSTS), at a cost of about $34,000 for the first year and increasing to nearly $38,000 by year three. The space would be used by the Community Crisis Response Team of the county’s Community Mental Health staff. This agenda item prompted commissioner Rolland Sizemore to ask, “Why are we leasing?”

What followed was a discussion … [Full Story]

The Nov. 19 meeting for the Washtenaw County Board of Commissioners covered a lot of ground, including a proposed tax hike for local hotel/motel rooms, the appointment of a road commissioner, three public hearings on brownfield plans for local developments and a proposed one-year extension for the controversial police services contract. It was also the final meeting for two commissioners who were recently elected to offices in Ypsilanti and Pittsfield townships. [Full Story]

A Nov. 13 administrative briefing and appointments caucus for the Washtenaw County Board of Commissioners revealed some disagreements regarding the reappointment of Road Commissioner Fred Veigel, as well as a reluctance to fund the proposed Aerotropolis project. The commissioners also decided to hold a public hearing for a proposed increase to the hotel/motel room tax. [Full Story]

At their Nov. 6 working session, the Washtenaw County Board of Commissioners heard from leaders of the Detroit Region Aerotropolis initiative, the Ann Arbor Community Success project and Ann Arbor Spark, who all gave reports about their efforts to bring jobs to this area and who laid the groundwork to ask for funding and resources from the county. [Full Story]

The Washtenaw County Board of Commissioners Wednesday night was chaired by Barbara Levin Bergman, who led the board crisply through an agenda that saw most of the items moved all in one go by commissioner Leah Gunn, and passed unanimously without discussion – with the exception of the affirmation for the second year of the 2008/2009 biennial budget. Commissioner Karen Lovejoy Roe did not support that affirmation. [Full Story]

Wednesday’s administrative briefing for the Washtenaw County Board of Commissioners lasted less than an hour, with much of that time spent discussing the process for appointing Washtenaw County Road Commissioners and possibly expanding that board. [Full Story]

Local students who attended Wednesday’s Washtenaw County Board of Commissioners meeting as a requirement for their civics class sat through three hours that was long on presentations, short on action (aside from a Road Commission appointment). Among the things they heard was an update from Treasurer Catherine McClary on the county’s financial stability, in light of the recent global credit crisis; a presentation of environmental awards; and an overview of the many youth programs supported by the county. It was a civics lesson in the real-world minutia of local government. [Full Story]

With barely a vacant seat in the audience at their Wednesday evening meeting, Washtenaw County Commissioners debated how to fund veterans services, while most of the public comment focused on concerns over the transfer of the county’s Library for the Blind and Physically Disabled to the Ann Arbor District Library. [Full Story]

Though they speed-talked through their regular board meeting, before that Washtenaw County commissioners had spent more than two hours in session as the Ways & Means Committee, focusing mainly on budget challenges, including proposed job cuts to help reduce a projected $5 million shortfall. [Full Story]

The Washtenaw County Commission dispatched their work quickly tonight, clipping through a range of items with little discussion. Among their actions:

• Creating a full-time deputy administrator position for the Washtenaw Community Health Organization, with a salary range of between $81,182 to $143,794. WCHO would cover all personnel costs.
• Declaring September to be Recovery Month.

David Behen, deputy county administrator, informed the board that a memo had been sent to outgoing Sheriff Dan Minzey outlining a plan of transition for the next sheriff. (Minzey was defeated in the Democratic primary by Jerry Clayton, who faces Republican Dwayne Taylor in November.) The memo said a transition plan should focus on the budget, long-term policy, projects, human resources, information technology and other capital assets.

Public comment was … [Full Story]