Mayor John B. O'Reilly, Jr.

With the city looking at a $20 million gap between revenues and expenditures, Dearborn city officials will be asking for a tax hike this year.

At his State of the City address Wednesday, the Dearborn Press & Guide reports that Dearborn Mayor John B. O’Reilly said he would “recommend the City Council approve a 1.38 mill increase as they formulate the budget, which must be balanced and adopted by June 30. Currently the city has an operating millage of 13.62. If the increase is adopted it would be the highest rate allowed under the City Charter.

“For a house with a taxable value of $70,000 — about the average for Dearborn — the bottom line would be about $100 more in annual taxes. The increased cash flow would be a needed step in the right direction, said O’Reilly.

“If that measure proves insufficient, O’Reilly said the city could issue a ballot proposal asking for an additional 3.5 mill increase, up to 18.5 mills. The maximum allowed under state law is 20 mills. Either increase still would equate to a total tax bill less than what most property owners paid in 2006, though. And if it does come down to a ballot proposal said the proposal would come with a five-year sunset clause.”

The mayor also said that while the city has reduced general employee staffing by nearly 30 percent over the last decade, there are plans to cut 40 more positions in July. As far as cutting police and fire staffing levels, the City Charter-mandated police and fire minimum staffing levels makes that much more difficult.

“No one likes to hear it, and I prefer not to say it, but we have to face it,” O’Reilly said. “The voter-approved City Charter provisions of our police and fire departments severely reduce our flexibility to manage costs.”

The Press & Guide reports that the mayor underscored the staffing mandate predicament by saying that public safety costs in Dearborn are about $51 million a year, while the city’s operating tax — the lion’s share of city revenue — only pulls in about $48 million annually.

“We need to understand that mandating the number of officers and firefighters doesn’t automatically correspond to our desired level of security,” O’Reilly said.

For the full State of the City story written by J. Patrick Pepper in the Dearborn Press & Guide, click HERE.