There is a Bloomfield Township study session on Wednesday, February 22, 2017 @ 7 AM to discuss the Budget Review for fiscal year 2017-18 . Yes, 7 AM is the correct time. The vote on the budget will be taken at a future Board of Trustees meeting prior to the end of the fiscal year (March 31, 2017). This meeting is open to the public. It is held in a conference room on the upper level. Ask at the Clerk's office to buzz you into the private access area.
THIS 2017-2018 BUDGET HAS LESS INFORMATION TO REVIEW, BUT WHY?
While reviewing the Table of Contents for the Preliminary 2017-2018 Budget I asked myself,
what is missing from this 20 page budget?
Answer: these subjects and line items have traditionally been included in former budgets but are MISSING now:
WHY?
RUMOR has it that the new auditors for the township (UHY), Supervisor Leo Savoie, Finance Director Jason Theis and perhaps others have deemed it NOT NECESSARY to include the above line item information in the BUDGET and is (according to the rumor) only required to be part of the yearly audit.
There is a DEBT summary page in this preliminary budget on page 4 of the PDF. That summary has occurred in previous budgets. What is missing are the pages for each issue with LINE ITEMS giving the details such as how much of that budget goes toward water and sewer department employee wages, health costs, pensions, etc. How much does the township pay for water or how much for sewer services? What is the principal payment of the debt? What is the interest payment? When will the debt be retired or was it refunded?
As a comparison, the 115 pages in the current operating 2016-2017 budget should be the model for all future budget presentations vs the 20 pages in this proposed budget. I highly recommend taking the time to view the 2 different budgets and the data provided . You will be able to see those "missing pages"and information in the 2016-2017 budget.
http://www.bloomfieldtwp.org/Government/Budget.asp
FYI: Remember, there is an active $11 million dollar class action water and sewer lawsuit against the Township. We have the right to see what this township is doing concerning the water and sewer department. Is there any contingency plan if the township loses the lawsuit?
Why should the taxpayer need to FOIA information about finances/budget? This is OUR money. This information should be readily available and included in the budget and archived on the township website and available 24/7.
You can and should ask the elected leaders:
- Why did the water and sewer financial data and the details for the various debt accounts get eliminated from this budget?
- Are there other issues in the budget that concerns you?
Here is how to contact the Board of Trustees:
- Supervisor = lsavoie@bloomfieldtwp.org
- Clerk = jroncelli@bloomfieldtwp.org
- Treasurer = bkepes@bloomfieldtwp.org
- Trustee = dbuckley@bloomfieldtwp.org
- Trustee = nbarnett@bloomfieldtwp.org
- Trustee = dwalsh@bloomfieldtwp.org
- Trustee = mschostak@bloomfieldtwp.org
The 115 pages in the current operating 2016-2017 budget absolutely should be the model for all future budget presentations vs the 20 pages in the proposed budget for 2017-18 now being reviewed at this early hour meeting today.This manner of presentation gives the appearance that necessary information is intentionally being withheld from residents. How our Township spends our taxes, operates and provides notice is of utmost importance to residents. Why are those items missing from that budget?
ReplyDeleteSince the final Budget is supposed to be approved very soon, the above items, along with other necessary financial data, needed to be included. Why was this not done? With the inability of the public to now make their comments on these and other important matters the Board needs to provide ALL required information, including all budget data, on the website well in advance of Board meetings.