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Property Values To Drop 12 Percent in Shores
The Grosse Pointe Shores finance committee will meet tonight at 7 p.m. to begin discussions about how to close an expected $500,000 funding gap in the next budget.
Grosse Pointe Shores Councilman Bruce Bisballe is the head of the finance committee.
Courtesy of Candidate
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The Grosse Pointe Shores finance committee chairman told his fellow council members Tuesday that the property values for the city will drop another 12 percent this year, according to figures released by Wayne and Macomb counties.
The plummet in property values, which have declined for the last few years, means the 2012-2013 fiscal year budget is likely to have a $500,000 funding gap, chairman Bruce Bisballe said.
The finance committee has been meeting but there has not been much strategizing on how to tackle the budget before knowing the change in property values.
Bisballe said the committee will meet tonight at 7 p.m.
Among his plans for the meeting, he wants to assess the top 20 vendors/service providers utilized by the Shores and determine if there are any opportutnities to save money by bidding out the service to other companies or receiving the service in another format.
He said generally the top 20 vendors should represent about 80 percent of the budget, so if there are savings to be had this is the area significant savings would likely surface.
After assessing what types of services are within the top 20, Bisballe said for those that it would be appropriate, he will ask city manager Brian Vick to send out requests for bids. Some of the services include engineering, legal representation and other similar kinds of services.
Bisballe said this is just one preliminary step in addressing the budget before the passage deadline is upon the council and there is a struggle to find savings that could be achieved.
While the request for bids does not require council approval, if the finance committee were to discover a large savings and want to switch vendors for any of its services, that decision would ultimately be up to the council.
Last year, council grappled with more than a $350,000 shortfall, which they eventually closed with a 1.25 millage increase. Though most taxpayers were paying less than the year before because of the lower property values, there was controversy about the measure.
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frank fudge
2:35 pm on Wednesday, February 22, 2012
12% drop and he has a smile.....you know what vendors are going to say take a hike.......the Shores is going down the drain......who would want live in a city where the council meetings are a 3 ring circus.....watch the 2/20/2012 with mayor Dan or I mean Ted running the meeting........good try Brian
Robert Lee
3:15 pm on Wednesday, February 22, 2012
Frank Fudge:
I think most Shores taxpayers will be smiling to get a 12% drop in their taxes. And this year with our new council and Mayor we did not have ex-Mayor Cooper and Mr. Vick unilaterally intervene without council input to block the rightful property tax relief homeowners should be getting.
Rather than try to give it to the taxpayers on the chin as Cooper & Vick did last year, our new council made it clear theywill rise to the challenge and stay engaged to reduce costs and keep the city services functioning as is.
Shores citizens should feel good about the high energy level of our new city government, and the fact that their actions make it clear that it is no longer business as usual at Shores City Hall. The Huetteman-Kenyon-Cooper-Vick era of our elected city officials sitting back and letting the city manager run things like a bull in a china shop is over.
And Frank, your logic sounds a lot like Harry Kurtz's.
William Moore
6:19 pm on Wednesday, February 22, 2012
just saw your answer to Frank but I am another Shores resident taking notice, a little late I am afraid......but what about the $94,000.00 reduction in AV that you got in 2010...pretty soon we will pay you to live here or your gas to get to Port Huron........Shores residents look at the noise makers....and watch the Board of Review for who gets the big reductions....
J TESTORI
8:19 pm on Wednesday, February 22, 2012
Robert:
I know Gloria is SO proud of you.
Robert Lee
1:33 pm on Thursday, February 23, 2012
Mr. Moore, my reduction in AV was achieved following the law, submitting appropriate documentation with comps & current appraisal to the GPS board of review. Keep in mind, this body was composed of ex Mayor Cooper's hand picked appointees. Are you implying they would have awarded me anything above and beyond what I was legally entitled to? Get real. The nice I got reduction suggests I was overassessed for years and should have acted sooner!
This is the time of years citizens of any city should do a little research. Go on line and see what comp homes have been selling for. If you have been in your home more that a few years, it may well pay you to call a highly regarded local assessor like Tom Stevenson (313-622-3516) who can tell you whether it will be worth your while to appeal. I know the modest cost of my home appraisal will reap nice dividends for years to come. The law affords citizens property tax relief as home values plunge. Don't be passive, do a little research and be sure your local assessor is giving you a fair deal! The Shores makes it easy, just go to: http://www.gpshoresmi.gov/assessing and you will find instructions and even a link with recent home sale results.
Mr.Moore, your logic is exactly that expressed at a prior council meeting by one of the former council members who got reject from office by a single vote! I make no apology for following the rules to get the tax relief the law provides. I'd encourage all others to do the same.
Bob Wind
8:51 pm on Thursday, February 23, 2012
saw your response to Moore, I am going to call that Stevenson guy ....wholy crap Bob you have gone down 54% since 2009.....think of all the school tax and others that you got our off.....funny when I asked the City about the info. you submitted they must have lost it....oh well you know those PEOPLE.....but from an A/V $316,000.00 in 2009 to $205,350 A/V in 2012 good job..... screw those kids in school, I don't have any either by the way saw who was on the board when you got the 94k think they are back..........going to tell all those on my street.....but when you got that big break no one else did.......aw ...right screw em......
Robert Lee
9:39 am on Friday, February 24, 2012
Bob Wind:
You mispell a common word, just like I 've seen in the past from a Shores resident by the name of Harry Kurtz. It's spelled "holy", not "wholy."
Why don't you and Mr. Testori have the courage to post with your real names? The Patch should do what major newpapers are doing, not accept postings without a facebook or yahoo ID that ties the post to one's real identity.
Most long term Pointe residents would find the value of their homes have dropped 50 % + from their peak. I doubt I'd be fortunate enough to get double my current assessed value if I tried to sell. So thanks to getting a good assessor and following the law, my home is now assessed in the proper range. WhenI got my reduction, plenty of other Shores residents who filed appeals had their assessed values reduced. Why did ex-mayor Cooper shuffle the deck on the board members after that? Just another way the Cooper regime could try to keep raking in more taxes as property values plunged!
Your rational that by following the law to reduce my taxes that I "screw" the schools is outlandish. When the GP school board raised attorney Mark McInerney's compensation from about 150K in 2010 to $245K in 2011, they don't need any more of my money to educate kids. A quarter million for an attorney, that's what should cause outrage!
"The purpose of a tax reduction is to leave more money where it belongs: in the hands of the working men and working women who earned it in the first place."
Senator Bob Dole