The Chelsea City Council got great news about its annual audit from Plante and Moran at its meeting on Oct. 16.
Representatives once again gave the city’s books and “unmodified opinion,” the highest opinion given following a yearly audit.
In addition, representatives from the company gave a very positive overview of the city’s finances for the period ending June 30, 2017.
Among the highlights were:
- The city’s fund balance is at 21 percent and increased from $820,861 in 2016 to $830, 329 in 2017.
- State-shared revenue, the city’s second largest general fund revenue after property taxes, was higher than estimated at $734,300. The city’s estimate was $733,229.
- The city’s total revenue for governmental activities increased 1.4 percent to $5.656,035 and expenses decreased by 10.5 percent from the previous year to $6.189,143. The decrease was due, in part, to the retirement of several employees.
- The city was also praised for its handling of post-employment benefits. The City Council voted to make additional payments to bring down its legacy liability costs.
In December, 2015 the total pension liability was $12.577, 968. As of Dec. 31, 2016 it’s at $12,728,358.
When the Chelsea Planning Commission met Tuesday night, it had a new member. Adam Ellison was unanimously appointed to the commission for a 3-year term ending June 30, 2020. (If there are any interested residents, there is still one open position on the Planning Commission to be filled.)
In addition, long-time Zoning Board of Appeals member Tom Osborne was reappointed to the ZBA for another 3-year term ending Sept. 30, 2020. Osbourne has been a member of the ZBA for 26 years.
After an extensive discussion, the City Council approved (with conditions), a request by Gestamp for a temporary exemption from the city’s noise ordinance while they complete the concrete pours for the construction of a 45,000-square-foot addition to its plant on Sibley Road.
On Oct. 10, police were called to the plant following a noise complaint by nearby residents. The plant’s concrete contractor was ticketed for a violation of the city’s noise ordinance. Between 35-40 concrete trucks began backing up at about 3:30 a.m. disturbing nearby neighbors.
The City Council agreed to allow a temporary waver of the noise ordinance for up to eight days before Dec. 31, 2017 and that residents will be given advance notice of the dates.
Council Member Melissa Johnson voted against the exemption stating her concern for residents who will be affected by this noise.
During the public comment portion of the meeting, Superintendent of Chelsea Schools Julie Helber reminded residents that there will be a special education millage renewal on the Nov. 7 ballot.
It reads: This proposal will allow the intermediate school district to continue to levy special education millage previously approved by the electors.
Shall the limitation on the amount of taxes which may be assessed against all property in Washtenaw Intermediate School District, Michigan, be increased by .9719 mill ($0.9719 on each $1,000 of taxable valuation) for a period of 8 years, 2018 to 2025, inclusive, to provide funds for the education of students with a disability; the estimate of the revenue the intermediate school district will collect if the millage is approved and levied in 2018 is approximately $15,200,000 from local property taxes authorized herein (this is a renewal of millage that expired with the 2017 tax levy)?
For more information about this millage request, click here. http://www.k12insight.com/Lets-Talk/embed.aspx?L=PY9D59F8K5LT
To watch the full City Council meeting, click here.
