Bloomfield Township Board Meets Tuesday at 4 p.m. to Discuss 2012-2013 Budget

Tuesday, Feb. 21 will be the first time the Bloomfield Township Board of Trustees will discuss publicly the preliminary budget that was introduced Nov. 28, 2011. According to the minutes of that meeting, all department heads had already met with the elected officials and the board was presenting a balanced budget.

It's been about 90 days, and the board has chosen to take this very important topic and discuss it on a Tuesday at 4 p.m. This day and time is NOT the regularly scheduled time and many may not be able to attend as they are at work.  Supervisor Leo Savoie reported at the Feb. 13 meeting that if the meeting is running long, there will be a dinner break and then return to continue the meeting. This is so unusual.

The township website has a "board packet' published for the Feb. 21 @ 4 p.m. meeting. The most important thing to know about the packet is: the BUDGET figures are NOT the same as were published in Nov. 2011. The last two column headings are different, and therefore, the figures below them may be different.

Make sure you look at and/or copy the budget that now says: "PROPOSED" budget which can be found here, versus the one you may have viewed earlier and titled "preliminary budget."  There are 48 pages of the "PROPOSED" budget versus the 36 pages of the "preliminary budget".

I believe that the department heads will present to the board and to the public information that defends or explains their budget requests and/or needs. I am not sure when or if the public may ask questions. Usually, it is after the board hears the agenda item. However, this ONE agenda item may take hours...possibly even continue after a dinner break.

I believe that since this is a Board of Trustees meeting, it should be video recorded and archived. I believe that you may find it on Comcast Cable TV 15 @ 4 p.m. on Tuesday. I'm writing this blog on Friday and the township offices are closed until Tuesday because of the President's Day holiday, so I couldn't get more information.

I've mentioned before, there is a public safety millage that is expiring in 2012. It is 2.5 mills. What contingencies have been made to the budget in the event any renewal effort fails?

A balanced budget may be presented on Tuesday and "balanced" is good....but not when you have to keep going to the taxpayer for more money as the township did in Feb. 2010. Also, claiming new "revenue" from other sources without also disclosing the expenses involved to get that revenue is misleading. Every opportunity to cut expenses should be taken. A honest look at vehicles purchased and used by whom is a great place to make the first cuts. But don't stop there..... tuition reimbursement and longevity pay is another area that the taxpayers do not need to pay. There are lots of ways to make cuts and the effort to do so must be made.