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www.mybaycity.com June 20, 2009
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Bay City Fire Station No. 5, at Smith and Transit streets, has been the target of closing several times in the recent past.

Expect City Commissioners to Over-ride Mayor's Veto of Layoffs

Decision to Go To Paid On Call Volunteers May Be Headed for Approval

June 20, 2009       1 Comments
By: MyBayCity Staff

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Six city commissioners last week made an excruciatingly difficult decision to lay off a like number of firefighters.

The only solace anyone could have about this move is that the firefighters apparently are eligible for retirement and could possibly get a "spiff" from the city for doing so.

Yes, public safety is a priority in the minds of local taxpayers but discussions of how to meet that need at lower cost have been brewing for a year or two. Soon commissioners will blow off the foam and taste the bitter beverage.

The Banks fire station, a political football lo these many years, will probably be closed. Not good for folks living in Banks but no doubt inevitable.

The reason none of the six are likely to change their vote: politics being what it is, they are already on record as slashing the fire budget to eliminate the positions.

They will pay the political price of opposition from firefighters, family and friends whatever their stand is on Monday night.

Also, what appears to be in the works is a paid on-call volunteer firefighter system like that in many other cities.

The commissioners appear to have decided that public safety would not suffer with such a system.

City Manager Robert V. Belleman reported that there were 367 calls to which the fire department responded in May, 45 of them being fire related and 280 emergency calls.

Is this scenario a predictive of the approval of the volunteer system like that operating in Monitor, Hampton, Bangor, Portsmouth and other townships and cities like Troy? Very possibly.

The $23 million city budget no doubt could withstand the continued employment of the six firefighters for a while. But the handwriting has been on the wall for some time; things have to change for the local municipality to remain solvent.

Federal stimulus dollars could be pumped into the fire department to keep staffing at present levels. But the piper eventually must be paid. The large female singer is tuning up in the wings, to paraphrase a crude saying.

At a recent legislative breakfast sponsored by the Bay Area Chamber of Commerce, the city learned that it may lose up to $2.4 million in state revenue sharing in the 2011 fiscal year.

The appeal of its tax assessment by the local General Motors Power Train plant was like a tree falling in the forest. Nobody realized how strong the wind was but soon other trees will fall. Other businesses will doubtless appeal their taxes, and downsizing of city government is definitely in the cards.

Some residents were vocally unhappy that the commission failed to slash the central office payrolls, but that may be the only option left for the hard-pressed local politicians.

The city has already posted "notice of seizure" on four businesses that are seriously past due in personal property taxes. According to city records, these businesses are EJM Manufacturing, 209 Morton St.; Quality Inn, (Dattaraya Corp.) 501 Saginaw St.; VIP Professional Dry Cleaners, 1008 N. Johnson St; and Tommy V's Cafe and Pizzeria, 312 E. Midland St.

Business will not continue as usual at City Hall, 301 Washington Avenue, and more tough decisions are in the offing to keep the ship afloat.

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"The BUZZ" - Read Feedback From Readers!

baycityump Says:       On June 22, 2009 at 06:48 AM
Interesting article on the recent budget struggles for the City of Bay City. However, I think that you should give the article proper credit with a byline by the author of the article.
Agree? or Disagree?


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