EAST LANSING, Mich. – At last night’s East Lansing City Council meeting, five resolutions addressing potential new revenue options for the City of East Lansing were introduced and set for public hearings on Tuesday, Feb. 27.
The extended date (the previous date discussed was Jan. 30) will allow for further deliberations by Council and additional time to gather and consider feedback from the community.
In addition to extending the date for the public hearings, Council also extended the deadline for the online community survey on budget priorities: www.cityofeastlansing.com/budgetfeedback. The deadline for community members to take the survey is now Sunday, Jan. 28 at 11:45 p.m. It is the same survey that community members filled out at the Community Engagement Meetings earlier this month and is available for those who were unable to attend one of the meetings. The survey results (from the meetings and online) will be compiled by Public Sector Consultants and presented to City Council in a final report. The report will be considered by Council as they look at a number of options to address the City’s financial challenges in the future. Options could include a reduction in services, the addition of new revenue or a combination of both.
The five resolutions that were discussed/introduced and set for public hearings at last night’s meeting include:
- 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 will take place on Tuesday, Feb. 27 at 7 p.m. in Courtroom 2 of the East Lansing 54B District Court. All community members are welcome to attend to provide comments and feedback during these public hearings.