4/19/13 - At a public hearing on the 2013-14 Brighton city budget Thursday night, the City Council was informed that the budget picture is much brighter now than it was even a few months ago. In fact, council was told that the projected fund balance at the end of the coming fiscal year is now pegged at $1.5 million. Mayor Jim Muzzin pointed out that in 2009, in one of his long-range budget forecasts, City Manager Dana Foster was projecting a budget deficit of $3 million by 2014. That figure was predicated on no reductions in either staffing or other expenditures coupled with no new revenue sources. City Manager Dana Foster tells WHMI the improved picture is due to a number of factors, not the least of which is lower than expected medical insurance costs, which Blue Cross Blue Shield is now saying will amount to a 13% increase, rather than 30% as originally stated. A couple of residents, including senior citizen Pat Cole, spoke at the hearing, criticizing the proposed increase in trash pickup rates. Under the proposed budget, residential refuse hauling fees will be increased by 28-cents per month or $3.36 annually, amounting to a 2% increase. Former Mayor Ricci Bandkau says she agrees with Cole that refuse pickup fees should not be increased, saying trash pickup fees have been a bone of contention with residents, since they previously got their trash picked up for free. The proposed budget is open to public inspection at city hall between now and May 16, when the final document will be adopted. (TT)
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