City Hall Insider … 12/16/25

By Charles Sercombe
The city council met on Dec. 16, and all councilmembers were in attendance.
The city’s auditor company, UHY, gave an overview of the city’s financial situation.
The highlights included:
• The net position of the city was $46.8 million on June 30, 2025, which was an increase of $25.6 million from the prior year. The most significant cause of this change was receiving multiple grant fundings for water and sewer infrastructure improvements, which totaled $22.4 million.
• The city’s General Fund balance on June 30, 2025 was $10.1 million, an increase of $1.25 million from the prior year. The total General Fund balance was comprised of $9.9 million in unassigned fund balances and $0.2 million in nonspendable fund balance. The city’s unassigned fund balance represented 37% of total expenditures in the General Fund.
• The city spent $23 million on capital assets during the fiscal year that ended June 30, 2025, with $17.7 million of that amount spent on capitalized water and sewer infrastructure projects.
• Property tax revenue increased across all funds by 6.5 percent from the prior year as a result of increased property value. For the General Fund, this amounted to an increase of only $30 thousand, due to the net decrease in property tax revenues caused by the combination of a $1.1 million increase in CIPP collections and a decrease of $1.4 million from the loss of the Wayne County Jail PILOT.
• Income tax revenue increased approximately $998,000, or 21.1 percent from the prior year, as a result of operational improvements that increased the rate of collection.
• State-shared revenue increased approximately $1.9 million, or 37 percent, from the prior year as a result of new statutory revenue sharing distributions based on taxable values, weighted population, and yield equalization.

During public comment, several people spoke in favor of a resolution to be considered by the city council that would give a portion of Jos. Campau the honorary name of Greg Kowalski.
Kowalski was a leading figure behind the creation and operation of the Hamtramck Historical Museum.
In one email that was read out loud, a person said Kowalski “always found a way to make Hamtramck attractive to the surrounding public.”
The council later granted the honorific name, but changed the street location from the portion of Jos. Campau in front of the museum to the street that Kowalski lives on, which is Wyandotte.
In another email, a person urged the council to remove Councilmember Muhith Mahmood from office, accusing him of not being a resident of the city.
“Councilmember Mahmood’s residency is already public knowledge,” the person said.
(A prior city internal investigation revealed evidence that both Mahmood and Councilmember Abu Musa are not actual residents of the city. According to the report, Mahmood lives in Troy with his family, and Musa lives in Warren with his family. Both deny the allegations.)
Several Hamtramck High School students and others spoke in favor of a proposal to refurbish the city tennis courts in Veterans Park. The project would also recreate the original six tennis courts.
The project was OK’d by council later in the meeting. The repairs are being paid by the Hamtramck Parks Conservancy, and the cost will be $113, 343.
Lynn Blasey criticized the council for continuing to add items to the agenda after it had already been made public.
“It is not in good faith of the public that agenda items would not be shared with the public in accordance to the (state) Open Meetings Act before the city council meetings happen,” Blasey said. “This is an ongoing trend with the city council. I hope that changes in the new year.”
Bill Meyer said he’s noticed a number of billboards advertising attorneys who offer their services to people who want to file lawsuits.
He said it’s all about making money – “suing people and making money for the lawyers. It’s a disgrace.”
Meyer also credited outgoing Mayor Amer Ghalib, who did not seek re-election, for never “banging the gavel once. You never insulted anyone, nor did you ignore or deny anyone’s concerns or interests.”
He also praised Ghalib for never being an “opportunist.”
Meyer continued in his praise of Ghalib: “You brought sanity and fairness to the council chambers, and, probably most important, you never sued anyone in the city to make money. So, farewell to the greatest leader I’ve seen in my lifetime here.”
Mayor-elect Adam Alharbi urged the council to reject 37 uncounted absentee ballots, which were not counted because they were found in the city clerk’s office after the election was over.
“They’re compromised,” he said. “They were open ballots, and they lost the chain of custody.”
Former state Rep. Abraham Aiyash said he had just become aware that state Republican legislators cut out $645 million worth of grants from the state budget that was promised to various communities – including Hamtramck.
Among several projects earmarked for Hamtramck, $800,000 was granted to the city to pay for a new fire truck.
Mayor Ghalib said he had talked with some Republicans, who told him that was untrue.
Aiyash countered that the Republican majority leader, Matt Hall, cannot be trusted.
“If Matt Hall tells you he can bring back that money for Hamtramck, I will tell you he is a liar,” Aiyash said.

He continued, saying Hall “is not a person you should trust, or anyone in this city should trust. He’s one of the worst people I had the displeasure of serving with.”

Aiyash also corrected Mayor Ghalib, who said that he voted against funding projects for Hamtramck.
Aiyash said he, in fact, voted in favor of the funding.

In new business, the council agreed to OK emergency funding for sewer and water line repairs.
The council also OK’d the purchase of two emergency radios for the fire department. The cost was a bit over $15,000.
In another contract matter, the council agreed to award a contract for an improvement project for the alley that runs on the west side of Jos. Campau from Caniff to Holbrook.
The $1 million project is being paid for by the state.
A note to the council said the improvement will turn the alley “into a pedestrian and cyclist-friendly route in our downtown. Once completed, this project will bring numerous benefits to Hamtramck and the businesses on Joseph Campau.”

In a matter that Councilmember Mohammed Hassan added onto the agenda at the start of the council meeting, a discussion was held on whether to discontinue allowing city employees to roll over one week’s worth of unused vacation time.
Hassan argued that some employees have “misused” this, although he did not provide specific details.
The council eventually agreed to stop that practice, and adopt a former policy that city employees now have to “use it or lose it” when it comes to vacation time.

In another matter that Hassan had added to the agenda, the council agreed to appoint him as president of a police oversight committee.
(Hassan is facing felony election fraud charges.)
The council then discussed whether to adopt a motion to accept the election results from the county, and disregard 37 uncounted ballots if they are allowed to be counted by a court.
(If the ballots are allowed to be counted, it could change the result of the mayoral election. Councilmember Mahmood is fighting to have the ballots counted. He lost his mayoral bid by 11 votes.)
What is our City Council up to these days? We have the highlights of the latest council meeting.
Posted Jan. 16y, 2026