Calhoun County Board of Commissioners Report

From the Thursday, Dec. 7, 2023 Calhoun County Board of Commissioners Meeting

At the Dec. 7, 2023 meeting, Commissioners read a proclamation for the 2023 Holiday Season National Enforcement Mobilization Campaign, often called Drive Sober or Get Pulled Over. There were also public hearings on the 2024 County Budgets, which were adopted after the public hearing, and on the close out of two CDBG grants.

On the consent agenda, the Board approved Calhoun County Board of Public Health reappointments and officer appointments, a grant application for 2024 Early Voting from the Clerk’s Office, a road maintenance agreement with the NHBP Tribal Government, a lease of County property to Greater Kingdom Builders, the 2024 workers compensation excess insurance renewal, staffing allocation requests from the Sheriff's Office and Public Health Department School Wellness Program, the updated Calhoun County multi-jurisdictional natural hazard mitigation plan, and appointments of initial board members to the Transportation Authority of Calhoun County.

To view the agenda or meeting recording, visit the Agendas page of the website.

In new business, Commissioners approved:

the application for laying out and designing a drainage district on W Drive S drain
a Michigan Department of Transportation (MDOT) contract for Federal Aid funded improvements on B Drive N in Sheridan Township
an MDOT contract for Federal Aid funded improvements on 9 1/2 Mile Rd from Michigan Ave to Verona Rd in Emmett Township
an MDOT contract for Federal Aid funded improvements on R Drive S between Kalamazoo County Line and 1 1/2 Mile Rd in Athens Township
the 2024 Remonumentation grant application

A message from Calhoun County Administrator/Controller Kelli Scott

2024 Budgets Approved

After about six months of budget planning, I’m happy to report that the County Board again adopted balanced budgets for 2024 within all of our required budgetary funds, the largest of which are the General Fund and Road Department Funds.

This year's General Fund budget authorizes $57.1M in expenditures and increases the fund balance by $511K, a larger increase than in past years, due to our recent update of the Fund Balance Policy requiring 17%-25% in available reserves. The 2024 operating budget is up by nearly 7% from the 2023 budget, mainly to reflect increases in employee compensation, a presidential election year and increased contractual costs within the county jail. Fortunately increases in State Revenue Sharing, countywide property values and Marijuana Tax helped to cover these cost increases, along with continuation of the historic $1.5M annual transfer from the Delinquent Tax Revolving Fund, and the one-time use of the $2.5M remaining in American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funds for reimbursement of reduced local revenues. This is the final appropriation of Calhoun's $26M in ARPA funds, and so the 2025 and future years’ General Fund budgets will require continued strategies to contain costs and maintain revenue levels to provide the level of services our community needs from the County.

The Road Department budget, which is accounted for as a separate governmental fund from the General Fund, authorizes approximately $27M in expenditures. Revenues include only a 1% increase from the Michigan Transportation Fund (MTF), the main source of funding for road agencies in Michigan. Road Department operations and budgets are especially fluid from year to year due to the multi-year regional transportation planning process for receiving federal and state grant funding, the extent to which our normal MTF allocation must be used for winter maintenance depending on weather, and the level of expected participation by townships in our local road improvement match program.

The County uses long-term forecasting models for the General Fund budget, as well as the Capital Improvement Fund and the Road Department, which also relies on long-term asset management plans and projection tools.

This year’s successful budget-balancing steps included the continued maintenance of dozens of unfunded staffing vacancies, strategies to hold employee benefits costs to almost no increase to the county or employees, and the implementation of programs such as implementing lighting and solar upgrades to save energy costs and leverage federal rebates.

Again this year I am especially grateful for all department heads, elected officials, judiciary personnel, and the dedication and support of the Budget Committee of the Board of Commissioners, led by Board Chair Kathy-Sue Vette.

Check out the Budget in Brief, which provides an overview of the General Fund and Road Department budgets.

In the budget book, review all aspects of these budgets.

Survey from Ford's Community Affairs Team

As you may have heard, Ford is excited to move forward with the BlueOval Battery Park Michigan project. As they continue their investment in Marshall, Ford is committed to giving back and being good neighbors. To that end, I encourage the community to participate in a new survey to let them know what matters most to residents. Ford has already invested $100,000 in various community and philanthropic causes across Calhoun County and the attached survey will help shape where Ford makes future community investments.

Click here for the survey

A joint budget meeting was held on Wednesday, Nov. 8. This was the meeting with Commissioners on the Budget Committee, as well as Department Elected Officials and representatives to discuss Administration's recommendation for the 2024 budget, as well as the five-year forecast. The budget approved at today's meeting reflects what was discussed at this joint budget meeting.

A Board of Public Health meeting was held on Monday, Nov. 20. At the meeting, a financial update was given by Finance Director Megan Banning, as well as a presentation about the Calhoun County Wellness Wagon by Community Health Director Lauren Lewandowski.

Elected Officials and department heads met with Congressman Tim Walberg on Tuesday, Nov. 21. The Congressman shared his priorities and then each department head had an opportunity to discuss the issues that affect their offices.

Employees in all county buildings had the opportunity to participate in active assailant trainings between Dec. 1 and 6, as put on by Sheriff Steve Hinkley. Employees learned about safety measures already in place in many offices, received classroom-like training about active shooter situations, and then practiced with scenario training in each building. The buildings were closed to the public during these trainings.

A Parks and Recreation Commission meeting was held on Thursday, Dec. 7. The Commission discussed the 2024 parks millage ballot proposal, and in the department report, Community Development Assistant Director Doug Ferrall gave updates about 2024 DNR grant requests, the timeline for the 2025-2029 Parks Master Plan, and Kimball Pines grant completion.

Inside Calhoun County Podcast

Have you heard of our new podcast, Inside Calhoun County? Find all episodes, including the latest with Water Resources Commissioner Ron Smith at calhouncountymi.gov/podcast

Questions or comments? Please contact our Communications Director. If you were forwarded this email, sign up to receive future emails.