Volume #2, July 2007

Welcome to another installment in my quest to keep you informed on what is going on at the township. Today I will tell you about the significant financial progress we have made, discuss the issue of borrowing money, and talk about public works. Thanks for taking the time to learn more about the workings of Sylvania Township government. I invite you to share this with your friends and neighbors and encourage you to sign up for my email newsletter.

Significant Financial Progress

Look what happens when you have a fox guarding the hen house. No, you don't have wholesale slaughter of the chicks, but you do have peeps much more conscientious of what they are doing. What am I talking about?

A review of our financials as of June 30, 2007 shows that we have $5,039,870.01 more than we did as of June 30, 2006. Five million dollars more. Now, granted, half of that is due to a windfall estate tax receipt that we received in February of this year, an unexpected but welcome deposit into the township's treasury. But what about the rest? Good fiscal policy, ardent review of expenditures, conscientious pursuit of revenue (without raising taxes), and employees who are beginning to realize that the trustees (well, at least two of us), do not view the taxpayers as bottomless pits of money.

The first step in putting our financial matters in orders was hiring someone who knew what a balance sheet and budgets were, someone who not only knew how to read reports but how to develop reports that were informative and useful. Devon Klofta was hired in fall of 2006 as our Director of Accounting and Budgeting. Devon is working with all senior management to formulate and monitor department budgets, identify and explain variances, and to make sure that the township is collecting all revenue that it is due. Why was this not done before? Good question; I have no idea why the prior administration and elected officials didn't do this.

Now we have monthly reports that show us how much we have spent, how much we had expected to spend, how much more we plan to spend, trending information, and - (drum roll please) - a bank reconciliation, to show us how much cash we have in the bank. Last fall, when we had state auditors in the office performing our biennial audit, I refused to approve monthly financial information as it was provided to the trustees by the Fiscal Officer after the state auditor told me that the cash we reported on our balance sheet did not match the cash we had in the bank. I'm not sure how that happened, but I do know we have fixed that problem and now we know exactly how much cash we have, and I'm happy to say that we have $5 million more than we did last year.

Borrowing Money

I think most people would agree that when you borrow money, you should pay it back. Much of our economy is set up on that premise.

For years, the township fire department has borrowed money from the general fund of the township. Currently, the general fund is owed over $1 million by the fire department, some of it dating back to 2001. The fire department has been living above their means, yet they provide a valuable service to the city and township, so it was the decision of past elected officials to loan the fire department this money. The current board agreed to loan about $135,000 in 2007 as well.

As we approach having to make a decision on a levy request for the fire department, I have heard numerous people ask whether the proceeds from a new levy will go to repay the general fund. Specifically I have heard queries as to whether proceeds from a citizens levy initiative will go to repay those advances. Many site the mismanagement of the prior township trustees as a reason why the fire department should not repay the loans. But the community as a whole voted for those trustees, so it would be unfair at this point to disavow borrowings that were made under prior trustees.

City residents do pay a 0.5 mill levy into the township's general fund, because the city has never removed itself from the township's borders. In addition to that levy, we receive general fund revenue from numerous other sources, including gas tax, licence fees, personal property tax, estate tax, etc. Except for the 0.5 mill levy, all general fund revenue is received directly or indirectly from activities in the unincorporated township. In all, the tax revenue from city property amounts to about 6% of the general fund receipts. To say that the fire department, which serves the city, should not pay back the general fund when only 6% of the revenue is derived from city property taxes is not logical to me. If the fire department does not repay the general fund, in essence we would be making taxpayers in the unincorporated township subsidize fire and EMS services provided to the city.

So should the fire department have to repay the general fund? We required loans made to the police department be repaid. We are also asking for repayment of loans made to the water and sewer district. The general fund is repaying a loan it received from the road department. Why should we treat the fire department differently? Fire services should be paid for by those who benefit from the services, so I think it is logical and fair to plan on having the fire department repay the general fund.

Balancing Roads and Leaves

Our Department of Public Works is making good progress this year in street repaving. In total, department director Greg Huffman expects to be able to pave 7 miles this season. This is an improvement over past years when sometimes the township was only able to repave 1 mile of road. Given that we have 120+ miles of residential road, and on average roads need to be repaved every 20 years, the Township needs to repave at least 6 miles a year to stay on top of the game. Raiding the road department budget to pay for other township services is exceptionally short-sighted, and something I am opposed to.

Last year, we spent about $400,000 on street repaving, just barely hitting our average of 6 miles. But surprisingly, the leaf pickup for fall 2006 cost over $600,000. I was stunned when I saw the report that said we spent more on a non-capital service than we did on our infrastructure.

I know that leaf collection is an important service to our tree-laden community. Our residents expect it, and we will continue to provide that service. But I also think that we need to figure out more efficient ways of providing that service. I believe that many of the problems at the Township result from failing to look beyond what has always been done. We have grown from a small rural township to an urban community, and yet some of our practices have not changed, thus leading to inefficiencies.

Improving our fall leaf pickup service to provide quality service in a cost efficient manner will be looked at in the next few years. There are a variety of ideas that we are looking at, and we always welcome resident input.

That wraps up this latest installment. As always, I encourage emails to trusteedeedee@yahoo.com.

Sincerely,

DeeDee Liedel
Sylvania Township Trustee

Fire Department Update

So far I've told you I'm going to say something, then I told you what I'm going to talk about, but I haven't really said anything yet. I can hear it now: typical politician! Well, I'll kick off my substantive comments with probably one of the most pressing issues facing the township - the fire department.

The trustees are moving closer to voting on the issue of putting a capital levy on the November 2007 ballot. I can hear some people now - but you said no new taxes! I did, and I'm not yet convinced that our taxpayers can afford any more taxes. But there are positives to what is being looked at.

First, as any one who has looked at our facilities will agree, our fire stations are in bad shape and some of the equipment should have been replaced years ago. Routine maintenance has been deferred for years, in exchange for more bodies on trucks. The roof repair at Station 2 earlier this year that necessitated our firefighters to move to temporary quarters for a month has been evident for years. I know their self-contained breathing apparatus (SCBA) equipment has not been tested in over 20 months (despite annual testing standards) because the 2006 budget was approved without money for testing included. I was not aware that the budget approved by the prior board did not include money for this testing because it was not brought to our attention until spring of 2007. Money is available in this year’s budget, and testing is scheduled for later this fall.

I believe it is bad management to forego maintenance of facilities and equipment in exchange for personnel because we can’t protect the lives of our fire fighters, residents, and visitors with equipment that may not be functional when it is needed. I am working hard to make sure that the fire budget has a solid balance of personnel and equipment/facilities, instead of over-emphasizing one at the cost of the other.

We have retained an architect to revise the fire station plans that were completed over 2 years ago when the township first considered a capital levy. We have scaled down the proposed buildings 30-40%, thus reducing the cost to the taxpayers. Incredible as it seems, the plans we are looking at will accommodate twice the manpower we are currently using at each of the stations to allow for potential future growth. And yet the plans from 2 years ago were larger! I have no idea what they planned to do with all of that space. Our community needs solid, efficient, productive facilities from which to operate the fire department, not monuments to government excess.

With scaling back the request for facilities and equipment from the excessive to the reasonable, I believe we are looking at a potential 20 year bond levy of around 0.75 mill. That is in comparison to the 1.1 mill permanent levy that was requested in May 2005. We are still working through final numbers, but I will continue to make sure that if we go to the voters for additional revenue, it will be under a prudent, efficient, and modest plan, not something that will fluff the egos of those involved at the expense of the taxpayers.

What did I say?

While preparing material for my return to proactive political communication, I took the opportunity to review some of my campaign material and remind myself of what I told people while I was campaigning. I think it is important for an elected official to carry through on the promises made while campaigning. When it comes to politics, almost nothing frustrates me more than having a candidate get in to office to say "I know what I said, but ..." I think that is wrong. So reviewing my campaign material has given me an opportunity to see if I have changed my mind since I've been in office. Have I held to my campaign statements? My current self-assessment is that I have not changed my position on the major issues I campaigned on, though I will admit progress has not been as quick as I had hoped on some items.

Here is a list of topics I discussed in my campaign emails:

· Fiscal restraint

· Financial Accountability

· Quality Growth

· Working with the City

· Purpose of Government

· Procrastination

In the next few months I will talk in more depth about these issues, especially as some of them tie in to the ballot issues that Sylvania voters will be facing in November.

Busy November Ballot

The election ballot for this November is promising to be a very busy ballot, indeed. In addition to the regular elections for a township trustee, the township fiscal officer, two school board members, and four members of city counsel, there is expected to be several other issues including:

· a citizen petition initiative to place a 1.5 mil fire levy on the city and township ballot,

· a merger proposal,

· the unexpired term of a city counsel seat,

· several county-wide levies,

In addition there is potential for a capital levy and an operating levy for the fire department.

As we get closer to November, I will talk about each of the election decisions that will affect our local community, including the township's role and my personal perspective.

Back to proactive communications

It's been 18 months since I took office as a Sylvania Township Trustee. While I think I did a good job of getting my message out to the voters of Sylvania during the campaign, I have to admit that I have done a poor job of that while in office. This email is the first in my effort to correct that.

I'll own up to a bit of naivety while entering the fray that is politics. I campaigned hard, got my message to the voters, and the voters supported me. But then I stopped proactively communicating with the voters, and let the media and others explain what was going on at the Township, I let others define who I was and what I was doing. As a result, my actions were not always being represented fairly and accurately.

I ran and was elected on some very important issues to our community - ever- increasing property taxes and development. The direction that I am working to take the township keeps those issues in mind, every step of the way. You may not always agree with me, but hopefully by resurrecting my email campaign, I can help you understand the basis for some of my decisions.