County commissioners ponder further budget cuts
Deep budget cuts at the state level and their impact on county funds were topped of the agenda at Friday?s meeting of the Presque Isle County Commission. It was reported that revenue sharing payments are down this year by an average of 38.8 percent statewide with Presque Isle County suffering a 43.1 percent reduction in state money. It was noted by commissioner Michael Darga that, ?The DNR can?t pay the taxes on property they own in the county and now they want to purchase more property.? According to county treasurer, Pat Cornett, the county is owed about $52,000 in back taxes from the state.
THE TREASURER reported she had spoken with someone from the DNR and said, ?They have requested to purchase three of our parcels from our land sale and I told him we had a real problem with them buying property at our tax sale when they owe us money for taxes on property they already own.? The treasurer continued, ?He said he understood that all the counties had problems with that but there wasn?t anything he could do because the legislature didn?t appropriate any money to pay the taxes.? She answered the DNR representative that, ?There are a lot of people in our county who didn?t appropriate the money to pay their taxes either and we foreclosed on their property.?
The treasurer concluded her report by noting that the bond money of $935,000 was to be disbursed Wednesday (yesterday) and that the interest on the bond this year was a very attractive 2.08 percent.
PRESQUE ISLE Township supervisor, Peter Pettalia, addressed the board regarding the proposed ballot initiative to seek a special millage for the HUNT program. Pettalia said, ?There should be a back-up plan, because I don?t think a millage increase will pass.? He stressed the program is important and should be continued but, given the present economic situation, a millage increase was not likely to win approval of the voters. The issue at hand is how to provide a more stable funding mechanism for the Huron Undercover Narcotics Team (HUNT).
The ballot proposal would ask voters to approve a levy of one-third mill for a four-year period to fund the drug interdiction unit and pay for the resource officers in the Rogers City and Onaway schools. Pettalia said, ?There may be other creative ways of supporting HUNT that are more viable for our citizens than to just go ahead and ask for more millage.? He mentioned that DRANO (Down River Area Narcotics Organization) in Detroit had collected millions of dollars from confiscated trucks, vehicles, houses and other property. Pettalia went on to say that the money from these forfeitures was, ?just sitting around idle because they are not allowed to share the money with other teams around the state.? He suggested, ?Maybe we need to campaign our state legislators and the governor?s office to help DRANO release some of these funds from the Detroit area where there are millions of unused dollars and let them help support some of the northern teams.?
PETTALIA CONCLUDED his presentation with a prediction about next year?s budget, ?The state is already predicting a billion dollar shortfall for next year, so what does that mean for us? Are we going to get less money next year? Most likely.? Referring to the ballot initiative, commissioner Robert Schell noted that, ?Win or lose, it may still help get HUNT funded. If it doesn?t pass, we can go back to the state and say we tried the millage and that didn?t work, so now we need money.? Commissioner Darga concurred, saying, ?Too much of our money stays downstate we are always being short-changed in Lansing.? Commissioner Gary Wozniak added, ?This is part of a four-county proposal and I believe it?s up to the people to decide whether they want to help or not.? While voicing support for the HUNT program, chairman Allan Bruder said, ?I will vote against this, it?s just a bailout for the state.?
THE MOTION carried 3-1. The Rogers City Ambulance Authority has requested help to purchase a new ambulance vehicle this year. Speaking for the authority, Jim Zakshesky noted that, ?We have two ambulances on their last legs and just one good one. We need to buy another one this year but there are no grants or state money out there.? The board agreed to allow the authority to extend the payments on the current loan and indicated that it will be reviewed later with no penalty to the ambulance authority. The prosecutor?s report included a point of interest that the county was recently cited in legal journals around the state concerning a case before the Michigan Supreme Court. Prosecutor Don McLennan said, ?So, even little Presque Isle can have an impact on the law
THE BOARD approved a request from the sheriff?s department to purchase a new digital recorder for recording 911 calls. The cost, $14,727, was within the amount budgeted for the device. The sheriff?s department is planning to purchase new AR-15 rifles to replace the WWII vintage 30-30 carbines. The board agreed to put an advertisement in the Advance and in the Outlook calling for bids from interested collectors for the old rifles. The personnel report gave details of the salary increases that were approved for county employees. It was noted that the increases were kept at just under three percent.
Ed Brklacich, curator of the Great Lakes Lore Maritime Museum, addressed the meeting concerning the need to replace the roof on the building located on Third St. in Rogers City The board decided to look into the matter and report back at the next meeting. The meeting adjourned before noon with the next meeting set for Wednesday, July 14 at 7 p.m.