ALPENA TOWNSHIP — The Charter Township of Alpena Board of Trustees voted Monday to adopt its 2019-20 budget during a public hearing before the trustees’ regular meeting Monday.

The township’s fiscal year runs from April 1 through March 31 and the township expects to have zero deficit — meaning it will bring in enough money to cover all of its bills throughout the year — and a solid cash cushion moving forward. The proposed budget estimates revenues of approximately $1.59 million and expenses of roughly $1.54 million for the township’s general fund. The projected fund balance at the end of the year is a little more than $1 million, or about 63.5 percent of budgeted expenses.

After more than two hours of public comment on the proposed budget, which was adopted with a 5-1 vote, the trustees also voted 5-1 on wage increases for township administration.

Treasurer Laura Ellery-Somers was the lone no vote on the budget and the wage hikes. She also received the smallest increase in her salary, compared to the clerk and supervisor.

The clerk’s raise was about 10 percent, the supervisor’s about 7 percent, and the treasurer’s about 4 percent. All of those are elected positions. None of those positions have seen a pay hike in a decade.

During the public hearing, more than a handful of residents questioned why Ellery-Somers’ rate increase was on the light side and urged the board to make it more in-line with the other raises. Once the budget was adopted, some voiced their displeasure.

Dave Dohn questioned why the board had public comment if the concerns or recommendations from the public were not considered or acted upon.

“You got the public input about the concerns about the parity in wages and you didn’t listen to us and basically ignored us,” Dohn said to the board after the vote. “Why aren’t you listening to the people? Almost everyone here said the raise was due and justified and I just think this is wrong.”

Russ Rhynard said he was disappointed in some of the items in the budget, including the wage gap. He said he believed the proposed budget needs to be done sooner, so more people have time to review it and react to it.

“I’m disappointed in a number of things in the process. Your budget takes effect April 1 and I didn’t know it was available until last week,” Rhynard said. “You take the public comment and then make a decision that has obviously already been made prior to us getting here and talking. Do you think any of us would have spent two hours here before this meeting to talk to you if we thought you were just going to rubber-stamp this without taking anything into consideration? We wouldn’t have.”

Ellery-Somers said she voted against the budget and wage increases because she didn’t believe her work performance and dedication were considered enough and, although she is disappointed she didn’t get as large of a wage increase as others, there is no animosity toward her fellow trustees.

“I am one of the most dedicated people there is for this township and I have worked very, very hard to update the treasurer’s office and make it more efficient and serve the taxpayers,” she said. “I’m very disappointed in the board.”

Supervisor Nathan Skibbe said there was a thorough review of those who received raises. He said he was not willing to discuss personnel issues, but did add that budgets can be amended and that further changes to Ellery-Somers’ compensation could come down the road.

“A budget is a living document that can be amended,” he said. “We had ample discussion about concerns and I think all trustees would be in support of a pay increase based upon the ability to minimize contractual services.”

Skibbe would not elaborate further, citing personnel issues.

Many in the crowd believed the trustees were going to raise the township’s operating millage after seeing a truth-in-taxation notice. The millage stayed the same, at 1.0136 mills, or about $51 a year for the owner of a $100,000 house. Skibbe said it would be up to the voters in the township to raise that rate.

“I can promise you, it would be on the ballot,” he said. “We can’t raise the operating millage. That would be up to the voters.”

Other aspects of the budget were also questioned. South Bay, the nonprofit group working to improve the U.S.-23 South corridor, had its president, Larry Clark, and member Bob Young in attendance. The group made a budget request for $5,000, but was only awarded $1,000, which disappointed South Bay members because it could hurt their efforts to acquire funds from other sources for planned development projects.

“We are looking for funds to leverage grants, it is pretty much as simple as that,” Young said. “For most of the grants, unless you have a governmental body behind you, you have nothing.”

The township is currently undergoing a review of its Chart of Accounts by the Michigan Treasury. While that is being done, the township is not allowed to add or subtract line items in the budget. Because of that, money intended for some purposes, which should have a new line item, are forced to be lumped in with an existing one. Skibbe said that makes it difficult to create a detailed budget that is easy for people to see where all of the money is allocated. Once the state signs off on the register, changes will be allowed.

Until then, Skibbe said it is a challenge for residents and those crafting the budget. He said being able to explain circumstances like that to the people at the hearing is important.

“There were some concerns that were brought up and I think the board did an excellent job of listening to all of the questions and concerns that came in and responded appropriately,” Skibbe said. “We need to remind people that budgets are living documents and can change. At this point in time, I feel good about where we stand in terms of the general fund budget. We’re over $50,000 in the black, we’re not in debt, and we have a sound fund balance, and I thought there was a good give-and-take with the public.”

Steve Schulwitz can be reached at 989-358-5689 at sschulwitz@thealpenanews.com. Follow him on Twitter @ss_alpeanews.com.