Dearborn Residents Face Higher Taxes for Services
So after all the debating on what will stay or go in Dearborn because of a massive budget shortfall, it all comes back to residents.
In November, residents will be asked to approve a tax increase of 30 percent. There will not be a referendum on City Charter mandates for police and fire staffing. Those will be untouched.
Our elected council members voted unanimously (minus Suzanne Sareini who was absent) to put on the ballot proposals to raise the city’s general operating millage 3.5 mills.
In addition, perhaps a bit of good news, there will be a dedicated millage of 1 mill to fund the city’s library system.
According to the Dearborn Press & Guide, the millage proposals are expected to generate roughly $15.8 million in revenue; $12.25 million for the general operating millage and $3.5 million for the library system. Worth noting is that the library millage does not mean all branches will remain open, according to Councilman Brian O’Donnell.
The operating millage hike can be collected for no more than five years, at which point the millage would expire. The library millage would be for 10 years.
The Council also approved placing four advisory questions on the ballot on specific city operations, including curbside loose-leaf pickup, the Dearborn Historical Commission, the library system, and city pools. These questions would be used as input in future city budget processes, but do not have any legally binding effect.
It isn’t quite clear why those ballot questions are really needed, considering the City spent money recently to hire a private firm to mail questionnaires to 2,000 residents where similar questions appeared.
The Press and Guide reports that Council members were split on resolutions to put forth ballot questions that would eliminate minimum police and fire staffing as currently mandated by the City Charter. The minimum staffing questions, which needed at least five “yes” votes, went down by a 3-2 vote, with Councilmen David Bazzy and Brian O’Donnell voting against it. In favor were Council President Thomas Tafelski and Councilmen Robert Abraham and Mark Shooshanian.
For unknown reasons, Councilwoman Nancy Hubbard, left the meeting without explanation before the votes were taken, the paper reports, and after the meeting, was seen outside City Hall . . .
July 18th, 2011 at 2:25 pm
Typical Nancyy Hubbard run away from the real issues, and then be seen outside. She is a has-been and never was, if she doesn’t want to vote on an issue, don’t run for office, you gutless council-person.
July 18th, 2011 at 2:51 pm
This mayor has refused the mantel of leadership and instead engaged in petty micromanagement and self created diversions. This city is bleeding red ink by the barrel, and his solution is an all or nothing 30% tax increase. Terry Jones, BAMN, Acts 17, Marc Somers, and O’Reilly have made our city their own political football and the citizens now have to choose between pools, parks, and libraries because the leaders culture wars have bankrupted our city. Rather than confronting the police union and have the voters reconsider the minimum staffing he just passed the buck. Yes we need police and yes they do a terrific job given the difficult situations they encounter every day. That being said the staffing requirement does not necessarily mean more patrol officers. This mayor should support more patrol officers and begin to regionalize and share ancillary services with a larger agency that could deliver those services at a reduced rate. Instead he asks for a millage he knows will fail. Not only will it fail, it will bring in more political action groups into our city and we will have to endure an entire political season filled with rhetoric and devoid of solutions
July 18th, 2011 at 6:58 pm
What larger agency would you like Dearborn to share police services with Detroit? Wayne County? We see how well it is working out in Detroit even with police assistance from MSP & Wayne County. We all must realize that Dearborn is surrounded by Detroit on one side of town and we are less then 1/2 mile away from Inkster and yet the city is still a nice place. Our police do an amazing job and as it was brought up in the council meeting, the police have never meet the charter mandate. I believe they are staffed at 181 officers which is far less then the 205 they are required to have. What I do dislike is the practice of paying for new hires to attend the police academy. In this economy there are plenty of laid off police officers that would jump at the opportunity to join the ranks without the additional cost of the academy.
July 19th, 2011 at 1:08 am
After receiving my recent tax bill with the the new increase to 15 mill. there is no way I will agree for another increase until I see if they use this money wisely or waste it away as they have with our past taxes. Be careful not to fall into their tricks of the wording for the vote as you know they will try to write it in a way to try to confuse the taxpayers. Why are there questions about libraries pools etc. just to try to make you believe that they will use that money for those purposes only. We all know as the past will show you that is Bull!!! If you go back and watch the council meetings when the charter commission voted to give the ability to the council to increase the mill, they all stated they had NO plans to do an increase in the future but just wanted the ability if they needed to in the far future, again that was Bull! They planned it all along. Now along with the mill increase the CSO project costs they want another mill! I hope not it will drive our taxes through the roof!
July 19th, 2011 at 3:41 am
There is no justification to continue supporting police services that should be delivered at a regional level. Mandating police employment without regard to the function they serve is featherbedding. I fail to see how bordering Detroit requires Bomb Squad, or Internet crimes detectives. These are services that are regionally delivered in almost every single jurisdiction in America. Nevertheless without addressing public service employment costs simply adding additional mills will surly fail. Why can’t the people reconsider the staffing requirement, because it would fail as surly as the millage. It is clear O’Reilly and Somers were two votes I wish I could do over.
July 19th, 2011 at 3:42 am
The tax increase or “revenue” increase will be blown through like water. Its just more money for Barrack O’reilly to pay off his cronies and give them more pay increases and pad their pensions more. The more of your money they get from us the more they will blow.
July 19th, 2011 at 4:03 pm
There is no way that anyone with a mind would vote for more taxes for this city. The people are too smart (hopefully) to fall for the cr** that the city is trying to push down our throats.
Let them threaten to cut our services. We don’t get any now.
Vote no and any tax increase and yes and any recall petition that you see.
Take a group of random Dearborn citizens off the street and give them the mayor and council positions. They couldn’t do any worse than what we have now.
July 19th, 2011 at 5:04 pm
Is any one surprise Nancy ran away from the hard decisions. She likes sitting on the fence and waiting to see how everyone else voted first. She is brainless and so are the people who continue to vote for her. Yes, her dad was a wonderful Mayor and did a whole lot for this City but clearly, she is NOT her father! Wake up.
Does Bazzy & O’Donnell think they know better than all the citizens of Dearborn? Aren’t they on Council to represent us, the people, not their own interest? Put it on the ballot. So you lose the endorsement. Man up!!!
I will NEVER vote for a tax increase under this Administration. I had high hopes when O’Reilley took over. He pretended to play hard ball when on City Council. He never cleaned up Guido’s mess. He kept same old, same old. Moves Norwood who screws up an entire department instead of firing him. Ventures into the real estate business by buying Montgomery Wards at the highest price and selling at the lowest. Wasting tax dollars.
A house on my block sold 6 years ago for $330,000. Today it is listed for $149,000 and still hasn’t sold. And you want to raise my taxes? Just because you are arrogant enough to ask for it I will be filing to lower my taxes next time around. You will deny it but when I turn it over to the State of Michigan, I’ll win. More people should try it and then where will the fat cats in City Hall be????
I don’t trust O’Reilley. No matter how you vote the tax increase will go through. Who sets the machine? Corruption exists in this Administration. Guido got the Performing Art Center to go through when not one person admits voting for it. Do you trust them?
He got permission to sell Dearborn Towers and sat on it until the value drops and drops and drops. The CSO project is a mess and the cost over runs are more than the cost of the original project.
Time to cut our losses. Keep one main library and close the rest. We will survive. More people use the internet for research, kindles & Ipads for reading, Netflicks for movies, it is the sign of the times.
Throw the Chamber of Commerce out of a public building or charge them full market value for rent. To many hand outs. O’Reilley doing favors and costing us revenue.
I guess he continues to waste money because if you try to save the City money like Somers did you get a bad rap. Like him or don’t like him, he was trying to elimate positions to save the City money. What is wrong with that? The legal system. You can sue anybody for anything. You can even get away with murder if you have the right lawyer.
Sell the Performing Arts Center. Why should be subsidize a health club? Let a professional company come in that can bring in shows people want to see and make it profitable instead of a drain on our tax dollars. O”Reiley ‘gives’ that building away to some many of his ‘friends’ and only makes them pay the janitor fees. It’s not his private country club.
Curb side leaf pick up is a nice idea but when they never come when scheduled. They become more of a hazard having them standing in the street and hot cars parking on top of them. Elimate it!
It is not safe for children to walk so most parents drive their kids to the pools. Does it really make a difference if the parent drives them 8 blocks or 3 miles? It is only a benefit for those living right across the street. My tax dollars are to help the entire community not a few streets! Keep on on each side of town and close the rest or better yet sell them. Having 2 City pools in a community is more than many have. Some communities survive and thrive without any City pools. Imagine that?
Make Fakhourey pay his taxes. Stop waiting for him to make miracles. You keep extending and extending the preferred developer status and he has produce NOTHING. Make Newmann fill his building or take them down. They are looking so run down but where are his violation citations?
Time to play hard ball. Time for a new council. Time for a new Mayor. Time to move this City forward instead of farther into the grown with all the self interest. PLEASE remember this at election time.
July 19th, 2011 at 6:01 pm
Wow…the administration and council showed such courage in just giving the okay to put this issue on the ballot to the full measure of what is allowed by law. As for Nancy Hubbard and Suzanne Sareini, both should leave town now. I can tell you that I will work for anyone willing to remove them from office as they are nothing but a disgrace. Taking a powder (and not showing up) before the vote are nothing more than cheap theatrical tricks by people who should not be in public office. I will not vote for any increase knowing that money is being pissed away by this administration and to also be told that this may be the end of the fiscal woes of the city. I am asked to pay more and more and I am not receiving any kind of return on my investment (paying my taxes, paying more at parking meters, paying more for services that should already be paid for in the taxes I pay to begin with). Councilman Bazzy notes that citizens of Dearborn will have to make choices. He is correct in this thought. I will think and vote with my pocketbook and certainly vote to throw bums out office at the next election.
July 19th, 2011 at 6:59 pm
Where was Suzanne Sareini?
July 21st, 2011 at 1:45 pm
The only way to get these incompetent bureaucratic buffoons’ attention is to mimic the bad boys of business in Dearborn and not pay our property taxes. Then, in a few years, the city and Wayne county will offer amnesty without penalties. As the mayor and his cronies always stress..we need creative solutions.
July 21st, 2011 at 2:44 pm
I should have done a better job of editing my comments. I left out the following: “I will not vote for any increase knowing that money is being pissed away by this administration and to also be told that this may NOT be the end of the fiscal woes of the city.”
July 21st, 2011 at 4:29 pm
i usually don’t argue w/ people who’ve so clearly made up their minds but, “Does Bazzy & O’Donnell think they know better than all the citizens of Dearborn?” is ironic considering the citizens clearly voted in favor of the manditory staffing and those two are the only ones that seem to remember that.
July 21st, 2011 at 5:23 pm
You have a lot to bitch about, and I agree with a lot of it, however O’Reilly is supposed to be the man in charge, and he continues to have idiots surround him (only because they agree with everything he says — they don’t want to give up their cushy positions). O’Reilly is afraid of Hakim Fakoury, and Hakim brags about it, on the street. As far as playing hardball, O’Reilly could not walk and chew gum at the same time, so how can you ask him to show some balls, he obviously doesn’t have any. As for the Chamber of Commerce, he won’t do anything or charge them rent, because its a voting base for him, and they hold that over his head. My conclusion is get rid of the bums, O’Reilly, Somers and the gutless Council people.
July 22nd, 2011 at 1:37 am
I’d love to pay more taxes. Hell, my home value has dropped close to 50%, the tree limbs from 2 weeks ago still make the curb side appealing, I have homes selling next to me for $40k, the city sends a questionaire asking if we want Dearborn to have more affordable homes, I just had the police chase someone through my back yard, 2 homes across the street are vacant, and the real kicker, I just had a child molester on the sex offender list move on the street behind where my kids can no longer play in their backyard so that we can protect this guys rights. Not to mention the damn town looks like crap. City ordances are no longer enforced. At this rate, they will need to meet the quota for the police, if not exceed it, if we continue to make this town attractive to investors to buy a home for $40k and rent it out to TRASH. Sign me up for new taxes. I might even be willing to send a few more tax $’s to the parole officers so that they allow more child predators to live by my kids.
July 23rd, 2011 at 2:13 pm
Since everyone else is suing the city, maybe it’s time for taxpayers to follow suit (no pun intended).
July 24th, 2011 at 2:16 am
Again, the city’s stupidity amazes me. I was watching the Telegraph cruise when a Toyota Pius with signs on the side listed as ” Dearborn Beautification Committee”, or something really close passed down the street. With everything Ford has contributed to this area, can’t the city at least use an American car? How much has Toyota contributed to Dearborn? Shame on the Beautification Committee, at least make it look like you actually appreciate all of the contributions Ford has made.
July 30th, 2011 at 3:21 am
You make some good points about the library, but seem to be missing some key facts. Yes, most people do research on the internet, but a lot of people don’t have the internet at home- library computers are full whenever I’m there. While Kindles, iPads and other electronic devices are becoming more common (and free digital downloads ARE available at the library), they’re still too expensive for a lot of people to own just yet. Lots of books get checked out. As for Netflix/Blockbuster Online/Red Box, that’s still something you have to pay for. Movies are free at the library.
Just FYI.