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2012-13 Grosse Pointe Woods DRAFT Budget
Attached is the proposed budget for Grosse Pointe Woods which has not yet been formally approved. While Grosse Pointe Woods has the technology to post the unapproved budget on-line, they are only required by law to notify residents where they can view the budget which is at city hall during business hours. Two of our residents took their own time to scan major portions of the budget so that residents would have the opportunity to review it at their leisure and make comments in advance of the public hearing which is scheduled for May 21, 2012 at 7:30 p.m in council chambers.
It should be apparent that there are many cuts that can yet be made before voters are asked to approve a tax increase by way of a Headlee override which will only ensure business as usual.
By way of example, should city employees have memberships in professional organizations and travel accounts when the budget is tight? We don’t agree with the extravagant “parties” and believe they should be eliminated. Should the City Attorney should be receiving health care benefits as an independent contractor?
IF YOU HAVE IDENTIFIED SPECIFIC SPENDING CUTS, PLEASE SEND US AN E-MAIL TO NOBLANKCHECK@GMAIL.COM OR REPLY TO THIS POST. YOU HAVE A RIGHT TO BE HEARD.
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Jim Schultz
8:30 am on Friday, May 18, 2012
The $10,000 Volunteer appreciation party is in the DRAFT budget, AGAIN!
The time to remove that item is NOW, BEFORE the budget is approved. Ask any volunteer, they will tell you they "VOLUNTEER" because they want to help the city they live in and don't expect anything in return.
Gloria
9:50 am on Friday, May 18, 2012
Beware of little expenses. A small leak will sink a great ship. -- Benjamin Franklin
Thanks for your support Jim. I find it interesting that the budget is now online. However, only the summary with no detail backup. We need ALL the information available online so residents and view when they have time and NOT be forced to go to the city to review the full budget.
Lisa Pinkos Howle
9:53 am on Friday, May 18, 2012
Council was pressured to put something up on the website so they selectively posted only certain documents.
Joseph Sucher
10:10 am on Friday, May 18, 2012
What I noticed on the City's proposed budget is that the only detail provided relates to Water/Sewer and Major Road expenditures. While I'm pleased the City has moved from "unlikely" (to happen) to "no" (it won't happen) to "yes" but only a little bit. I'm curious as to why the decision to not post City Hall related detail was made. For example there is nothing showing the line items making up the City Council budget, the Clerks budget, the City Attorney's budget, etc. An oversight? Limitations of the hardware/software, server capacity? For the entire proposed budget, open the PDF links above.
Lisa Pinkos Howle
10:13 am on Friday, May 18, 2012
May 21st at 7:30 pm in the Courtroom at City Hall! This is our chance to suggest cuts to the Council BEFORE they pass the budget and BEFORE they increase our taxes. Please encourage your neighbors to attend. We will get nothing done if there are only a few of us. We will also be filming so you can be heard by others. PLEASE ATTEND.
David Hensley
2:25 pm on Monday, May 21, 2012
I will not be able to attend because of the GPN awards night tonight and work. Please make sure to mention more people would have been there but some had this awards night that prevented them from coming to argue against.