EAST LANSING, Mich. – At tonight’s East Lansing City Council meeting, five resolutions addressing new revenue options for the City of East Lansing will be introduced and potentially set for public hearings on Tuesday, Jan. 30.
The resolutions are as follows:
- A resolution placing on the ballot a proposed charter amendment authorizing a 15-year income tax with a mandatory $5,000 minimum exemption and the first $5,000,000 in revenue, annually, dedicated to payments toward the unfunded pension liability of the City
- A resolution placing on the ballot a proposed Headlee override of 2.4321 mills with 1.4321 mills dedicated to parks and recreation and 1 mill dedicated to capital improvements/deferred maintenance for facilities and streets
- A resolution placing on the ballot a proposed 3 mills for a public safety pension board under Act 345 for funding public safety pensions
- A resolution authorizing a sum not to exceed (TBD) million dollars and issue its unlimited tax general obligations bonds for the purpose of financing repairs to park and recreation facilities
- A resolution authorizing a sum not to exceed (TBD) million dollars and issue its unlimited tax general obligations bonds for the purpose of financing street repairs
The public hearings would allow Council to hear from community members on these potential new revenue options and discuss the merits of each option as it relates to the City’s current financial challenges and the impact on community. If Council votes to move forward with one of these resolutions at next week’s meeting, it could be placed on the May 8, 2018 Election ballot or a later ballot.
Prior to the public hearings, Council will have reviewed a report from Public Sector Consultants with the survey results from the the Community Engagement Meetings hosted earlier this month as well as the results from the online survey, which is still available for community members to fill out: http://www.cityofeastlansing.com/budgetfeedback. The deadline to submit an online survey is this Wednesday, Jan. 24 at noon. If set, the public hearings would take place on Tuesday, Jan. 30 at 7 p.m. in Courtroom 2 of the East Lansing 54B District Court.