By Simon Albaugh \u2013 Yemeni American News<\/p>\n
HAMTRAMCK, Mich. \u2013 It\u2019s a complicated set of circumstances, but the math is sound: Hamtramck is losing money quickly. Since 2018, the City of Hamtramck has lost an average of over $2 million in its budget surplus every year, losing as much as $25 million, according to City Manager Kathleen Angerer.<\/p>\n
The only way out of this budget shortfall is by changing two numbers: Increasing revenue and decreasing expenditures. But as any public official can probably attest, this is a long and difficult process. It\u2019s already started with an independent financial review from the State of Michigan, which City Manager Angerer says will be released publicly around Mar. 2 of this year.<\/p>\n
\u201cOur administrative staff is already thinking about what we can do to balance a budget,\u201d Angerer said. \u201cBut when you look at these numbers, it\u2019s very plain to see that we will not be able to pass even the identical budget we had last year if we don\u2019t have increases.\u201d<\/p>\n
In the meantime, there\u2019s a number of challenges that Hamtramck\u2019s City Council will need to think through. How does a city that\u2019s among the highest-taxed in the state lose so much money? And what can a city that is continually losing its biggest revenue sources do to make up the loss?<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Budget Challenges Started with Dodge, and then GM\u2019s Closed Plant<\/p>\n
As part of a complicated history of eminent domain, the main auto manufacturers that paid enormous taxes to the city of Hamtramck have all closed as of early 2020. With all the major revenue sources closing their doors – including the prison near the city\u2019s eastern-most border \u2013 the city is dealing with the COVID-19 pandemic at its worst spending power.<\/p>\n
This isn\u2019t new for the city, since Hamtramck has been under state receivership twice before. But what is new is a repurposed state receivership system that hasn\u2019t been popular in the Whitmer Administration, or necessarily in the administrations before it<\/a>. As a financial emergency may develop in Hamtramck, the city administration may not be able to expect another round of State Receivership.<\/p>\n The answer to what happens next is simple. The city won\u2019t be able to pay its employees, and many city services will not be provided.<\/p>\n \u201cWe are facing a disaster,\u201d said Councilman Almasmari at the Jan. 26 City Council meeting. \u201cIf we don\u2019t take this seriously, if we don\u2019t take the effort to fix this budget and make hard decisions, we will find ourselves out of money and not being able to pay our employees.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Hamtramck\u2019s Top Expenditures of 2020<\/p>\n Like any other city, Hamtramck needs to provide essential services to its residents. Those services, like water, electricity and an education, are all funded through the existing revenue sources paid through taxes. However, Hamtramck was ranked among the highest in property taxes in the state of Michigan<\/a>, even surpassing all of the Grosse Pointe Communities as of 2019.<\/p>\n Among the highest expenditures was utility costs, which were mainly funded through water and electricity bills for property owners. Another major cost was property taxes to Wayne County, which totaled above $5 million. Below is a list of the top 35 expenditures that were outlined by the Hamtramck City Council preapproved expenditures. This is only part of the cost of running an entire city.<\/p>\n
| Great Lakes Water Authority<\/td>\n | <\/p>\n Water Utility Company<\/td>\n | <\/p>\n $5,317,049.09<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Wayne County Property Taxes<\/td>\n | <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Government Agency<\/td>\n | <\/p>\n <\/p>\n $5,225,386.91<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Treas – School District of Hamtramck<\/td>\n | <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Public School District<\/td>\n | <\/p>\n <\/p>\n $3,702,672.50<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Priority Health<\/td>\n | <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Health Insurance Provider<\/td>\n | <\/p>\n <\/p>\n $881,317.00<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Priority Waste, LLC<\/td>\n | <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Garbage Disposal Service<\/td>\n | <\/p>\n <\/p>\n $488,660.00<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Detroit Edison<\/td>\n | <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Utility Company<\/td>\n | <\/p>\n <\/p>\n $295,919.76<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| <\/p>\n <\/p>\n MI Dept Treasury – Emergency Loan<\/td>\n | <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Municipal Lender<\/td>\n | <\/p>\n <\/p>\n $230,019.77<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| <\/p>\n <\/p>\n US Bank<\/td>\n | <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Municipal Lender<\/td>\n | <\/p>\n <\/p>\n $187,775.00<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Aetna Inc.<\/td>\n | <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Retiree Healthcare Provider<\/td>\n | <\/p>\n <\/p>\n $166,760.54<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Super Construction<\/td>\n | <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Directional Drilling \/ Boring Company<\/td>\n | <\/p>\n <\/p>\n $122,648<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Eagle Claims<\/td>\n | <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Workman’s Compensation Provider<\/td>\n | <\/p>\n <\/p>\n $118,095.24<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| <\/p>\n <\/p>\n I.T. Right Inc<\/td>\n | <\/p>\n <\/p>\n IT Provider for Local Governments<\/td>\n | <\/p>\n <\/p>\n $98,988.32<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| <\/p>\n <\/p>\n DTE Energy<\/td>\n | <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Utility Company<\/td>\n | <\/p>\n <\/p>\n $81,061.41<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| <\/p>\n <\/p>\n The Bank of New York<\/td>\n | <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Municipal Lender<\/td>\n | <\/p>\n <\/p>\n $67,270.73<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Delta Dental<\/td>\n | <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Dental Insurance Company<\/td>\n | <\/p>\n <\/p>\n $63,889.25<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Cardmember Services<\/td>\n | <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Credit Card Provider for US Bank<\/td>\n | <\/p>\n <\/p>\n $49,930.58<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Wex Bank<\/td>\n | <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Payment Service Provider<\/td>\n | <\/p>\n <\/p>\n $44,699.38<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| <\/p>\n <\/p>\n The Standard<\/td>\n | <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Insurance Provider<\/td>\n | <\/p>\n <\/p>\n $41,047.41<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| <\/p>\n <\/p>\n McKenna Associates, Inc.<\/td>\n | <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Construction Company<\/td>\n | <\/p>\n <\/p>\n $39,311.55<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Blue Cross \/ Blue Shield of Michigan<\/td>\n | <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Health Insurance Provider<\/td>\n | <\/p>\n <\/p>\n $36,879.15<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| <\/p>\n <\/p>\n JMC Electrical Contractor LLC<\/td>\n | <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Electrical Contractor<\/td>\n | <\/p>\n <\/p>\n $35,998.00<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| <\/p>\n <\/p>\n (Undistributed Current Tax Collections)<\/td>\n | <\/td>\n | <\/p>\n <\/p>\n $35,311.00<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Total Health Care USA, Inc.<\/td>\n | <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Health Insurance Provider<\/td>\n | <\/p>\n <\/p>\n $30,344.30<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Lawsuit Settlements<\/td>\n | <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Lawsuit Settlements Paid<\/td>\n | <\/p>\n <\/p>\n $27,000<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Fire Escrow Account Returns<\/td>\n | <\/p>\n Escrow Account for Fire Department<\/td>\n | <\/p>\n <\/p>\n $25,254.00<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Hamtramck Center II LLC.<\/td>\n | <\/td>\n | <\/p>\n <\/p>\n $20,169.89<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| (Postage Reserve Account)<\/td>\n | <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Account designated for postage fees<\/td>\n | <\/p>\n <\/p>\n $17,000.00<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Fran Murphy Law PLC<\/td>\n | <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Legal Services<\/td>\n | <\/p>\n <\/p>\n $16,942.30<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Robert E. Zaranak<\/td>\n | <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Legal Services<\/td>\n | <\/p>\n <\/p>\n $16,376.25<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Rose Legal Services PLLC<\/td>\n | <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Legal Services<\/td>\n | <\/p>\n <\/p>\n $14,313.20<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| <\/p>\n <\/p>\n DTE Reimbersement Claims<\/td>\n | <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Reimbursement for Property Damage by DTE<\/td>\n | <\/p>\n <\/p>\n $13,554<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| <\/p>\n <\/p>\n (Out of State Retiree Healthcare)<\/td>\n | <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Direct Payment for Healthcare<\/td>\n | <\/p>\n <\/p>\n $12,240.30<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Konica Minolta Business Solutions<\/td>\n | <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Business Service Provider<\/td>\n | <\/p>\n <\/p>\n $10,572.15<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| <\/p>\n <\/p>\n The EZ Street Company<\/td>\n | <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Construction Company<\/td>\n | <\/p>\n <\/p>\n $9,700.00<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n <\/p>\n <\/div><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"By Simon Albaugh \u2013 Yemeni American News HAMTRAMCK, Mich. \u2013 It\u2019s a complicated set of circumstances, but the math is sound: Hamtramck is losing money quickly. Since 2018, the City of Hamtramck has lost an average of over $2 million in its budget surplus every year, losing as much as $25 million, according to City […]","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":4722,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4719","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-community-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/yemeniamerican.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4719","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/yemeniamerican.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/yemeniamerican.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/yemeniamerican.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/yemeniamerican.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4719"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/yemeniamerican.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4719\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4724,"href":"https:\/\/yemeniamerican.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4719\/revisions\/4724"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/yemeniamerican.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4722"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/yemeniamerican.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4719"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/yemeniamerican.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4719"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/yemeniamerican.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4719"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}} |