Harrison Township treasurer gives annual report

HARRISON TOWNSHIP — It was an unfortunate year, financially speaking, for Harrison Township, according to Township Treasurer Lawrence Tomenello.

The treasurer gave his annual report at the April 10 Board of Trustees meeting, going over various finances from the 2022-2023 fiscal year.

When looking at township pension funds for firefighters and regular employees, market depreciation saw the funds reduced by about $3.6 million and $2.5 million, respectively. The firefighters’ pension fund started at $18 million and ended with $15 million after income and expenses, and the employees’ fund began with $17.4 million and ended with $14.4 million.

“We didn’t have a really good year,” Tomenello said. “You can see that (in) the beginning balances and ending balances. This is the first time they’ve depreciated since I’ve been keeping books. Hopefully, we can look up and things will be getting better, especially with rates coming up.”

The township collected about $11 million in taxes over the fiscal year, nearly $7 million going to fire services and $2.6 million going to police services. About $879,000 went to the Harrison Township Public Library and $603,000 went to special assessment districts. No general operating tax was collected.

 

Appointments and hires
Various township board and job positions were filled by the board of trustees at the April 10 meeting.

Carole Wolf, Ramona Romero, Herb Lorentz, Jim Keehn and Sue Keehn were all reappointed to the Beautification Commission for two-year terms ending April 10, 2025.

“All of them have served for a fair number of times,” Township Supervisor Ken Verkest said. “Right now, it’s just for two years, but we’re certainly glad to have them.”

Patricia Carrier and Bob Long were reappointed to the Waste Service Hardship Committee for two-year terms.

Donald Hibbert and Gina Cozzolino were reappointed as ordinance officers for Lake St. Clair Metropark. They were joined by new appointee Austin Barnett. All have terms lasting until May 21, 2024.

The Water and Sewer Department hired a new maintenance worker to fill a vacancy resulting from a retirement.

The Water and Sewer Department will also receive a new used vehicle: a 2017 Chevrolet Equinox, transferred over from the Assessing Department. The move is part of a four-vehicle transfer within township departments, with the Equinox move serving as an experiment into how crossovers perform as on-call service vehicles in place of pickup trucks that are less fuel-efficient. Two such trucks, both 2017 GMC 1500s, are being moved from the Water and Sewer Department to the Maintenance Department. Finally, the township is getting rid of a 2020 Chevrolet Silverado 1500, sending it back to Enterprise Fleet Management to sell.