July 2005 Status Report

It is my pleasure to once again submit my monthly status report for your review and consideration. If you should have any questions about any of the items listed here, or if I fail to discuss an item that you would like some information on, please do not hesitate to contact me.

1. Project 2000 Tax Case

As we discussed, Dick Figura has submitted a request for a rehearing from the Court of Appeals. Dick has already talked to the legal staff at the Michigan Municipal League, seeking support from the Legal Defense Fund to pursue the appeal further. They requested that he submit a written request to the Board for their consideration. I will be making some calls to fellow city managers seeking their communities’ support in this effort as well. Dick also indicated he would call the attorney for the City of Detroit as they hold hundreds, if not thousands, of parcels that could also be subject to taxation if this decision stands.

As I mentioned earlier, I have already spoken to the legislative staff of the MML to seek their support in drafting new legislation. We are attempting to set up a meeting in the near future so we can discuss this issue in more detail. Hopefully this will lead to some legislation being introduced that will address this situation in future cases. I will keep you informed of the status of our work on this matter.

2. Budget Process

We held our first meeting with the Budget Committee approximately two weeks ago. At that time I reviewed with them some of the same information I provided to the City Commission a few months ago concerning our anticipated budget shortfalls. We also discussed the role of the Committee. They asked for additional information on the YSU Unit, total employee compensation by department, and percentage of tax-exempt property in the City. A copy of the minutes is included in this agenda packet.

3. Rental Inspection Bill

You may recall that I advised you that there was a bill pending in the House that would restrict how often we could conduct rental inspections in the community. Due to pressure exerted by the League and particularly from public safety departments from around the state, it now appears that the legislation will die in the House.

4. Part-Time Office Assistant

Tammy Bow has begun work as the part-time assistant to Jana. She will be here from 8:00 a.m. until noon daily, and on packet Thursdays she will be here all day. When you have the opportunity to meet Tammy, please join us in welcoming her to the office.

5. Construction Projects

The southern portion of University Street has been paved and striped, so the street is now completed from Michigan all the way to Bellows Street. There is still some final landscaping work to be done in order to fully complete the project. Bradley Street is now fully under construction, and should be completed by the middle of August. We will start some local street projects and water main work within the next week or so.

This year’s projects are moving along well, and all of them should be completed on schedule.

5. Center For Applied Research And Technology

We have been advised by the CART staff that they have submitted a pre-application to the Economic Development Administration for Federal assistance for the establishment of a business intelligence accelerator program at the CART. The purpose of the project is for short-term funds to help leverage Central Michigan University Research Corporation’s expertise as a business intelligence center of excellence. Funds will be used to expand the existing incubator services to include a new business intelligence accelerator program. They expect this program will engage three to seven young technology firms or existing corporate branch offices to Michigan SMART zones in the one-year project. The five-year objective of the program is to increase the number of companies participating in and assisted by the program by at least 10 percent annually. They also anticipate that this will result in the creation of approximately 50 high-skilled, high-paying positions during the five-year period. The total project cost is approximately $204,000 with the EDA providing 50 percent or $102,000 of the cost, and CMU providing the other 50 percent. It will probably be some time before CMU receives a decision on their pre-application request.

7. Temporary Traffic Control Order

A temporary traffic control order has been issued for a “No Parking Between Driveways” sign on the east side of Glen Street between the first two drives north of Preston. After the appropriate trial period we will seek final approval assuming there are no problems with the sign.

8. Legislative Issues

Summer is a relatively quiet period in the Michigan Legislature. Representative Bill Caul attended a recent Chamber of Commerce Legislative Committee meeting, and discussed two issues in some detail. He mentioned that the Senate and the House would meet once a week until their full sessions begin in September, and would focus most of their attention on the proposed state budget. He also indicated that a bill had been passed in the House that would require all public schools to start school after Labor Day. It is still awaiting action in the Senate. This is an issue that has been pushed by the Michigan Chamber of Commerce in order to capture more tourist trade before school begins. While it passed in the House, Bill was not sure of its future in the Senate.

9. Michigan Municipal League

We received some very good news from the Michigan Municipal League with our most recent membership renewal invoice. They have reduced membership dues by 10 percent. This means our annual membership dues have dropped from $8,180 to $7,362, for a savings of $818. I have sent a letter to the League President, Margene Ann Scott, and Executive Director Daniel Gilmartin thanking them for this gesture to help not only us but communities around the state to address their budget problems.

10. Project 700

There is nothing new to report on this issue.