By: Eric Czarnik | Sterling Heights Sentry | Published May 10, 2023
STERLING HEIGHTS — The books are balanced in a recently adopted budget for Sterling Heights’ 2023-24 fiscal year.
During a May 1 meeting, the Sterling Heights City Council unanimously approved the next budget. The city is legally bound to approve a budget before the next fiscal year starts on July 1.
According to Finance and Budget Director Jennifer Varney, the 2023-24 overall budget is $238.5 million, with the general fund making up $125.4 million of that. The overall budget’s size is a 12.7% dip compared to the prior year, largely due to less spending on roads, capital projects and American Rescue Plan-funded projects.
The general fund overall has a 5.6% spending increase. Varney said the biggest spending increase was $2.8 million more for staff wages and benefits — as well as a few additional planned hires — followed by a projected $1.5 million increase for waste removal spending due to an anticipated new waste hauling contract.
The city will add $15,150 to its fund balance in the next budget year, Varney said.
“The cumulative fund balance continues to be very strong, to total $35.2 million or 28% of expenditures, and this is a very healthy level that will allow the city to continue to invest in city services and infrastructure while maintaining a low tax rate,” she said.
Varney said the new budget’s millage rate is 16.38 mills, the same as the prior year. Varney said the average taxable value on a Sterling Heights home is $91,930, resulting in $1,506 in annual taxes, or $125 per month.
“And that’s about $8 per month higher than last year,” she added.
Varney added that the budget — among other things — includes almost $13 million for road improvements, nine more full-time workers, a city internship program, 21 police vehicles, a replacement ambulance and additional gear for public safety.
After the May 1 presentation, Councilman Michael Radtke praised the administration for an excellent budget.
“For once, I think everyone got a little bit of what they wanted, and I’m very happy to vote for this budget,” he said.
Motion to lower millage rate, cancel hiring changes fails
According to city officials, the 2023-24 budget expects the city to have a staff of 531 full-time workers, which is still 118 fewer than in 2008.
During an April 25 budget meeting, Councilman Henry Yanez proposed reducing the budget’s millage from 16.38 mills to 16.28 by eliminating some of the newly slated positions or keeping existing ones as part-time.
More specifically, this would’ve been canceling the hiring of a diversity, equity and inclusion officer; a recreation supervisor; a geographic information system specialist; and a purchasing coordinator. And it would’ve meant keeping a librarian, a financial services senior clerk and an electrical inspector as part-time positions instead of making them full-time.
Yanez said he didn’t want to make any additional hires until the city undergoes a Fire Department strategic planning process to see what that department might need. He also wanted to reduce the millage rate because “people, frankly, need a break.”
“Prices have gone up on everything — everything: gas, commodities, electric,” he explained.
Varney estimated that a hypothetical millage rate reduction would cut revenue by around $540,000, saving the average resident around $9 a year.
Mayor Michael Taylor opposed the motion, explaining that city officials for years have talked about adding more workers to City Hall to support existing staff.
“We are dangerously close to stressing out our employees to the point where they’re going to go to other cities. It’s already happened. We’ve seen it,” Taylor said.
“Nobody is going to notice a $10 difference in their property tax bills,” he later continued. “I mean, if we were talking about $100, $200, $300 of savings, that’s real money that people can use to buy groceries, to buy gas for their cars, you know, to help defray the costs of higher utility bills. But $10 in a year? That’s not worth it.”
In the end, the motion failed 2-4. Yanez and Councilwoman Deanna Koski voted yes on the motion, while Radtke, Taylor and Councilwomen Maria Schmidt and Barbara Ziarko voted no. Mayor Pro Tem Liz Sierawski was absent during that meeting.
See the 2023-24 budget by visiting www.sterling-heights.net/274/City-Budget, or learn more by calling (586) 446-2489.