Bob's Update - August 31, 2009
Last week I attended a
Community Showcase for the Business Side of Art, a summer skills-development
and training program for youth, funded through ETCS' Summer Youth Employment
Program (SYEP).
BUSINESS SIDE OF ART: I am delighted to see that ETCS is able to use American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) dollars to fund the Business Side of Art, a valuable program to benefit youth in Washtenaw County. The Business Side of Art focused on graphic design, web design, fashion/textile design, music production, food production and writing expressions. Over 150 people attended the showcase to support the work of the 60 youth who participated in the program.
ETCS Director Trenda Rusher will provide an update to the Board of Commissioners on the SYEP in the coming months. I'm already looking forward to hearing more about the overall success of this innovative program.
BUDGET PROCESS UPDATE: I spent most of last week finalizing my Phase II recommendations for the 2010 and 2011 budgets. Those recommendations will be informally presented and discussed with individual members and small groups of the Board of Commissioners over the next several days. I will also share them with County leadership at the Group of 180 on Tuesday, September 15th.
I will continue to update you regularly on the budget process through these updates, sharing the specific details on Phase II recommendations in my September 14th update.
Some may ask how I'm able to finalize my recommendations while economic discussions with our union partners are still ongoing. Ideally, we would have liked to complete the discussions and reach agreement with our unionized partners before the recommendations are submitted to the Board. Given the time constraints, however, we've been forced to look at a myriad of issues and alternatives, concurrently. At this point, I am confident that we are far enough along in our discussions that we can make some reasonable assumptions. My recommendations will include an estimate of potential savings from labor concessions in compensation and benefits. If these assumptions don't materialize the necessary savings we need we will have to identify savings in other areas.
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"Bob's Update" is a weekly message to Washtenaw County employees from County Administrator Bob Guenzel. eWashtenaw publishes these columns when they are deemed timely and useful to the wider community. Please contact Administrator Guenzel with your comments. |
WHAT OTHER COUNTIES ARE DOING: At last week's administrative briefing with the Board of Commissioners I presented a report on how Michigan counties are addressing their budget shortfalls This report provides a look at the deficits faced by surrounding counties and their efforts to reach a balanced budget - using many of the same strategies that we have implemented. For me, it demonstrates that we are not alone; and it's a great reminder that while we may lead many other counties with innovate strategies and solutions - sometimes we can borrow great ideas too.
Ironically, I read an article earlier today from Crain's Detroit - Property tax shortfall: County budgets slammed - that compared Southeast Michigan counties, their budgets and reductions specific to employee compensation and benefits. I hope you take some time to read this informative article.
Please remember you can get in touch with me anytime by email.
Bob
