City Hall Insider … 2/11/25

By Charles Sercombe
The city council met on Feb. 11, and all councilmembers were in attendance.
A presentation on the city’s financial forecast was made by Plante Moran, a financial firm.
Plante Moran’s Brian Camiller said the overall forecast shows the city drying up its budget surplus in the next five years and going into deficit spending.
The city’s financial issue is a “revenue problem,” Camiller said.
“You have to bring in more money,” he said.
Hamtramck has been dealt a financial setback with the loss of $1.3 million a year from Wayne County. That revenue was a payment for the county to operate its Dickerson Jail here, but the county now says jail operations there have been shut down.
“That’s nothing to sneeze at,” said Camiller about the financial loss.
On the plus side, Camiller said the city can expect its population to increase, which will bring in more taxes; economic development could also produce more revenue.
The reliance on future economic development has long been a staple in forecasting the city’s overall financial picture. Most of the time, that prediction, or the wishful thinking it could happen, never panned out.
Another option would be to convince voters to support a property tax millage to cover some operating expenses, although, in the recent past, voters have overwhelmingly rejected additional property taxes and millages.
The largest expense is for city employees and retirees, which, including their pensions, eats up about 80 percent of the yearly budget.
Mayor Amer Ghalib said that, although the loss of the jail revenue “is the major problem, it looks like we have a solution to that coming soon.”
Ghalib didn’t immediately say what the solution is, but later in the discussion said it’s possible that American Axle will develop its property in Hamtramck, which would produce more property taxes.
City officials acknowledged, about a year ago, that something might be in the works from American Axle, but nothing specific has been made public yet.
Ghalib said that, within six years from now, “a lot of things will happen. I think we are in a good situation, especially with the partial solution to the jail, but we don’t need to talk about the details.”
City Manager Max Garbarino said that, despite the financial projection, “there is no reason to hit the panic button at this point. … There’s always something looming. I know we’ll be fine.”
But, he said the city will have to stop tapping into its budget surplus to repave more alleys.
Next up, the police department gave its annual report. Police Chief Jamiel Altaheri stressed that the department’s core principles are: “Trust, transparency, training and technology.”
In all but two crime categories, the number of crimes reported dropped by an overall 10 percent.
On the increase were assaults (5.32 percent) and thefts (11.76 percent).
He said that, in 2001, there were 700 vehicles reported stolen. That number is now down to 120.
Altaheri credited the decrease in crime to “great teamwork.”
Mayor Ghalib questioned why the department continues to lose officers to other cities – especially after the city gave officers a “generous” salary increase for the next five years, and the continued purchase of new vehicles for the department.

During public comment, Bill Meyer said the city should have invited more people to the recent hearing on the city’s parking meters.
In the mayor’s report, Ghalib said he will let the public know before Feb. 21 about whether he will seek re-election. (He has since said he will seek another term, but also announced he’s been appointed by President Trump to be the ambassador to Kuwait.)
Posted March 14, 2025