Live Blog: Residents Have Their Say at Public Budget Hearing

After weeks of debate during budget sessions, the official public hearing for the Dearborn city budget took place starting at 6 p.m. Monday at .

City Finance Director Jim O'Connor started the meeting off by giving an overview of the 15 most important points in the fiscal year 2011-12 budget proposal, including current total property taxable value, the proposed millage increase, and facilities closures.

According to O'Connor, only 1.4 percent of the general fund is left for quality of life city services after necessities such as police, fire and the Department of Public Works.

Mark Lane, one of the heads of the group, was the first of many to speak out against pool closures.

"These pools are not an elective," he told City Council members. "These pools make Dearborn. You would have known this if you had taken the time ... to visit these pools during normal hours."

Currently, ,  and  Pools are set to close if the budget goes through as proposed. Mayor Jack O'Reilly announced at the meeting that within the last week, "a decision was made" that  pool will not close in the next budget, but Lapeer pool will close instead.

SOP member Ryan Woods presented several cost-saving ideas to keep the pools open, including selling tags to Dearborn business owners who don't live in the city, as well as discontinuing heating at some of the pools.

"We're not asking for a handout," Woods said.

Council President Pro Tem Suzanne Sareini said that she understood the points being made, but that the city had worked hard to reach conclusions about cuts that needed to be made.

“I don’t think there’s a single one of us here who wants to cut a single service or close a single pool,” Sareini said. "None of these decisions have been made without a lot of contemplation, work and study."

Tom Smith, a certified public accountant who works for the city, said that, "a lot of people in this room seems to be in denial" about the budget situation. "If people think we can operate these pools on cost neutral basis, why don't they step up and show us?" he asked.

Smith added that in his opinion, police and fire costs need to be better controlled to solve Dearborn's budget problems.

The public hearing was recessed at 7 p.m. for the City Council's regular meeting, with plans to continue public comment after the meeting ended.

Budget discussion continued just before 8 p.m. with a motion from Councilman David Bazzy to cancel the June 7 budget adoption meeting and move it to June 13, the last possible day to approve the FY 2011-12 budget. Bazzy said his concern is that issues such as the future of the leaf removal program had not been sorted out.

Councilman Robert Abraham and Mayor O'Reilly, however, disagreed with the motion, saying that it didn't leave enough time for the possibility that the budget would require more discussion among the council.

"My recommendation is that we stay with (the June 7 adoption date) and if the council is not comfortable, we should recess … and readjourn at a later date," Abraham said, adding that he didn't want to be "backed into a corner" where the council would be forced to make decisions at the last minute on the budget.

A decision was reached to continue with the June 7 budget adoption meeting, with the possibility that the actual adoption vote might have to be moved to a later date.

Discussion continued on the budget, with much of the comments pertaining to the pools.

SOP member Kristyn Taylor presented multiple ideas to raise revenues for the pools–everything from opening an outdoor eatery at Dunworth Pool to hosting movie nights and more swim meets at all the pools.

Resident Nancy Bissell-Misovich spoke out against leaf pickup, as well as the Civic Center, which she called a "glorified fitness center" at which most residents cannot afford to pay the fees for.

On the issue of leaf services, Bissell-Misovich said she'd rather just see residents pick up their leaves, rather than pay higher taxes for that service.

"Just as we were educated about garbage cans," she said, "we can be educated about leaf pickup.”

Resident John Lang commented that his family uses Ten Eyck Pool on a weekly basis, but that he doesn't want to see any pools close. If they do, Lane fears there will be overcrowding at the remaining pools.

"I tried to go to Dunworth over the weekend and I couldn’t get in," Lang said. "There’s no parking and there’s a line out the door."

Several residents spoke out against the , which Mayor O'Reilly said the city hopes to close on with a bidder in the near future.

Councilman Abraham retorted–and the mayor agreed–that it's more important to focus on Dearborn rather than worry about an apartment building in Florida that serves 60-70 families.

"This is the opportunity to take any proceeds and reinvest right here in Dearborn," Abraham said.

Mayor O'Reilly said he would support the sale of Camp Dearborn, too, if the city wouldn't make "pennies on the dollar" with the sale of the property.