Politics & Government

Council Talks Consolidation in Budget Session

City council holds second budget session Thursday at City Hall.

Consolidation dominated conversation Thursday evening during the Dearborn City Council’s .

Several members of council as well as finance director Jim O’Connor discussed ways the city can save money—and generate revenue—at the meeting in the city council conference room at .

Various city departments, including , city planning and , will have their services consolidated under the budget proposal submitted.

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But Dearborn also is considering offering services to neighboring communities to help generate revenue and offset costs for the city.

For example, Dearborn could be poised to become a regional tax collector for cities such as Dearborn Heights or Melvindale—if those communities are willing to use the program.

Find out what's happening in Dearbornwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

“We are very well-positioned, but it has to have interest,” O’Connor said. “It takes a lot of work to get one of these done.”

The Dearborn Fire Department also could be a service provider for Melvindale, and Dearborn’s MIS—in collaboration with Dearborn Public Schools—could become a service provider for Dearborn Heights as early as the 2012-2013 school year (with possible savings for the fiscal year 2012 budget).

The Dearborn Historical Museum also should be self-sufficient by 2014, though City Council President Thomas P. Tafelski questioned the subsidy to the museum of almost $225,000.

Councilman Brian C. O’Donnell also asked if the city could explore options for outsourcing human resource operations, though O’Connor noted that the department had already been hit heavily by staff reductions over the past several years.

Listed are the consolidation activities in the budget proposal:

  • DPW: Merger of Parks and Highways; Merger of Water and Sewerage; Merger of Neighborhood Services and Sanitation
  • City Plan: Will be merged with appropriate department
  • Fire: Possible service provider for Melvindale
  • Police: Consolidation of three divisions into two; consolidation of Traffic Bureau with Record Bureau
  • Health Department: Elimination as of July 1, 2011
  • MIS: Possible service provider for Dearborn Heights; collaboration with Dearborn Public Schools
  • Assessor: Possible service provider for communities with industrial bases
  • Historical Museum: Self sufficiency by FY2014
  • Housing: Possible consolidation and outsourcing of all HUD-based programming
  • Finance: Possible service provider as regional tax collector
  • Library: Borrowing agreement with Dearborn Heights

Additional budget sessions will be held at City Hall at 5:30 p.m. on May 17, 18 and 19 in the Mayor's Conference Room.

The council will also hold its regular meeting at 7 p.m. May 16 in the City Council Chambers at City Hall.

Can't make it to a meeting? Stay with Dearborn Patch here or on Twitter for live tweets and coverage of each budget session.


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