Budget crunch will require some hard choices

Last week’s announcement that the Holbrook repaving project started back up will be about the only good news for street improvements this year.
It is likely that the city will have to halt its alley repaving project next year because there is going to be a serious budget shortfall in the coming months.
You’ve probably read this many times already, but it’s worth repeating: It is expected that GM will close down its Poletown Plant this coming January, which will likely mean the city will no longer receive about $850,000 a year the company pays in lieu of property taxes.
That alone is a huge blow to the city’s budget.
It gets worse, though,
It is also expected that when the new Wayne County Jail is completed in Detroit, the Hamtramck county jail will be closed.
That closure will translate into a loss of $1.1 million a year that the county pays also in lieu of property taxes.
City officials are struggling to figure out how to survive these massive losses of revenue. You can bet the solutions will not be popular.
Something – maybe several things — in the budget will have to be sacrificed.
Hamtramck has been in tough financial situations before, and sometimes the state has had to step in and take over management of the city. Unfortunately, the state never solved our long-range financial concerns.
There is already blowback from some city officials who say we can’t do this or that. Unfortunately, they have not yet offered any solutions.
Brace yourself residents, it’s going to get rough in the months ahead – and we’re not just talking about our crumbling roads.

April 19, 2019

One Response to Budget crunch will require some hard choices

  1. Dennis Nowak

    April 28, 2019 at 5:35 pm

    “It is also expected that when the new Wayne County jail is is completed in Detroit, the Hamtramck county jail will be closed.”

    I wish the Hamtramck Review would give us more factual background on this issue. Why would there be a loss if the county still owned this property? Are there potential buyers currently interested? When is the projected completion date of the new jail facility? Who is calling the shots at the county on these decisions relating to shutting down Dickerson?

    The public need more facts on this important fiscal matter.

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