Commission looks at ways to solve budget woes
As the end of the fiscal year approaches in the city of Onaway, and the 2004-05 budget is put together, city officials have some rather tough decisions to make. In the coming months, the Onaway City Commission is going to have to make some cuts, and one of the areas they will looking at is the local police department. City officials will be talking with the Presque Isle County Sheriff?s Department and the Michigan State Police, to gather information, and to see what their options are. A meeting has been scheduled for Monday at 3 p.m. ?It?s a difficult thing to even look at,? said city manager Joe Hefele.
MAYOR GARY WREGGLESWORTH said the city receives $275,000 in tax revenue a year, of which $100,000 goes for the operation of the Onaway Police Department. ?It?s nothing we are doing by choice,? said Wregglesworth. ?The state has cut us $15,000 a year, two years in a row. We lost a mill due to the Headlee Amendment, so we are down.? ?All this is collecting information,? said Hefele. ?We need to collect every bit of information.?
While it was discussed for the first time Monday, word reached area resident Marma Beatty, who is not in favor of the elimination of a police presence in town. ?How can we get rid of law enforcement when our town is progressing,? she said during the citizen input portion of Monday?s meeting. ?Your going to think about taking away one of the biggest assets that we have.?
Hefele reminded the board, and those in attendance at the meeting, that the population of Onaway has dropped in every census count since 1900, and one of the concerns in the community, to turn that around, is job creation. ?We need to create a town where people will want to come in and do business,? said Hefele. Wregglesworth said property values in the townships have tripled, while the city?s has stayed the same for more than a decade.
?UNFORTUNATELY, OVER the course of time, folks can believe me if they want to, but it has happened over many years, the tax base has stayed stagnant,? said Hefele. ?Revenue sharing cuts have occurred, there?s less money coming in now than there was years ago, and our expenses are continuing to grow. The commissioners scheduled a budget meeting for Monday at 5:30 p.m. at city hall.