Information I Have Gathered on
Information I Have Gathered on
the City of Farmington Hills, Michigan
This page is now a work in progress. I will be adding more material on a regular basis.
The information gathered on this page is the result of two Freedom of Information Act Requests ($101.26 and $27.07), information provided free of charge, responses to emails and my own general observations. If I have misstated any facts, please contact me through my Home Page or email me. The response form on the Home Page can be completed and sent anonymously.
Last year I filed a Freedom of Information Act request with the City of Farmington Hills. Previously I had received answers to some of my requests free of charge while paying for other information. On June 11, 2010 I was emailed an invoice for $187.08. I refused to pay and I assume the material is awaiting payment and pick up at the City Clerk's office. I will explain the primary purpose of my request later. Suffice it to say, I have been unsuccessful in having the charge reduced.
Only my observation, but it seems this is one way the City can reduce the requests it receives. So much for transparency.
I did ask for a breakdown of the billing. The charge for copies was $1.70 which would lead me to believe not much material was provided. I was billed for time as follows:
When I asked for a breakdown I was told that the hourly rate is determined by adding the annual salary plus benefits and dividing by 2,080 hours. I asked for a breakdown of the cost of benefits but was told this would involve more time and thus the billing would increase.
From the above information, I calculated the annual salary and benefits:
I was told no overtime was expended in responding to my request.
On this page I will share my thoughts on the following topics.
I have also included my most recent Letter to the Editor.
Property tax refunds with interest
Akebono Brake Systems apparently appealed its personal property tax assessments for the years 2006-2008. In a letter dated June 3, 2009 the Oakland County Treasurer processed an adjustment that resulted in a refund of $418,975.01. That amount included $36,535.58 of interest. At the same time there was an increase in the IFT portion of personal property. The City of Farmington Hills billed Akebono $143,15.32 but no interest. The billing also related to the years 2006-2008.
Keep in mind that the the tax and interest amounts above are apportioned between all the taxing authorities and not just the City.
I have received conflicting answers from City officials and thus I filed a FOIA. I want to see the correspondence between the City and Akebono and or the attorneys for Akebono. I want to know why the City did not bill Akebono interest on the amount due the City. I'm not a lawyer but it looks to me as though the City should have charged Akebono interest. That, of course, would be common sense but as you know, the law is not always based on common sense.
The refund was apparently approved by City officials without City Council knowledge.
No billing to the Library
When the County determined the amount of refund to Akebono, the City of Farmington Hills was charged its share as well as the Library share. As the Library is supposed to be self supporting, the City should have billed the Library its share but did not. Again, I received conflicting stories but I am led to believe that the Library was ultimately billed. I assume the Library also received its fair share of the City billing to Akebono.
No tax relief for the Citizens
I am firmly convinced there has been a massive amount of fraud in Oakland County. Furthermore, I believe there was a substantial amount of fraud in one subdivision in Farmington Hills. This fraud had a significant impact on the residents of that subdivision in particular. I discovered the fraud when I was attempting to help a co-worker appeal his tax assessment in March, 2008. The sales comparisons showed a number of sales at or near $500,000.00. This was well above the market value at the date of the "sales". I discuss mortgage fraud on the Home page and a separate page devoted exclusively to mortgage fraud.
In reviewing the sales in more detail, I discovered some sales were to the same individual(s) and the one title company was used on many of the sales. The title company was based out of the Flint area. All the homes ultimately went to foreclosure. Many of the sales were financed 100%.
These fraudulent sales had a significant negative impact on the residents.
I attempted on numerous occasions to get some relief for the residents in the subdivision. The Assessor stated that nothing could be done unless the residents had filed an appeal to the Board of Review. Of course, the residents were not fully aware of the fraud at the time appeals were to be filed.
I calculate that on average each resident overpaid property taxes in 2008 by $1,000.00. There were approximately 165 residents in the subdivision. City Council would not do anything.
Law Enforcement failure to Investigate Mortgage Fraud
I met with the Police Department and City officials in an attempt to involve them in an investigation of what I perceived to be mortgage fraud. To be perfectly honest, it was a waste of time. From the statement that you need a victim, to mortgage fraud must be prosecuted where the closing took place and not where the home was located, it was one excuse after another.
Perhaps there would have been an interest in investigating the frauds if a member of City Council or a member of the Police force resided in the subdivision where most of the fraud occurred.
Caution, if you pay your property taxes online, make sure you read the fine print on the back of your bill.
Many individuals now use online banking. When online banking is used, a portion of the tax bill is not included with payment. The 2010 Winter tax notice says those payments should be sent directly to the City offices. The 2010 summer notice merely said do not mail banking checks to the P.O. Box. Postmarks don't count. There is a 4 1/2% or 4% penalty for being a day late. And who knows what they do at the processing center with online checks without receipts. Seems to me the City could be more responsive to it residents, not just large corporations.
Benefits available to City Employees
To the credit of the City, the pension plan for General employees was changed from a defined benefit plan to a defined contribution plan effective for hires after July 1, 2006. I need to determine if the plans were ever changed for the union plans. New hires after July 2, 2006 also participate in a Retirement Health Savings Plan. The City contributes $1,200.00 (increased to $1,500.00 effective November 1, 2008) annually and employees contribute 1.5% of the employee's annual salary.
Other benefits include:
The health insurance is self funded and administered by Blue Cross. That means Blue Cross receives and approves the claims and then bills the City the amount of approved claims plus a fee.
The plans do not cover 100% of all costs and I will need to determine employee contributions, if applicable, to each benefit.
Health coverage is available to all retirees that were hired on or before June 30, 2006 and meet eligibility and years of service requirements. Employees must purchase Medicare Part B insurance when they reach age 65. The City does not reimburse the employee for the cost of Part B insurance. Retirees do not receive dental and vision coverage.
As the City is self insured and the City requires that employees who reach Age 65 must enroll in Medicare Part B, it would be logical that the City would monitor the cost of providing the health care to these retirees. I'm sure the records are available but the City does not monitor the additional cost not covered by Medicare.
Some examples of the years of service to reach full vesting of the pension plan are as follows:
Pensions paid to Retirees Who Take Similar Jobs in Other Communities
When a Police Chief and Fire Chief retired from the City, they took comparable jobs in other communities. The monthly and annual pensions for each are as follows:
Insurance "Opt Out" payments to Retirees
If a retiree meets the requirements, he/she is eligible for continuing health care coverage. However the retiree can choose to "opt out" of coverage if he/she chooses. A retiree who "opts out" is paid $200.00 per month or $400.00 per month, if married. A retiree who "opts out" can return to the City plan during open enrollment. (A conflicting response from the City states that if an employee takes coverage at the new employer, they are not eligible to get back into the City plan.)
I assume the former fire chief receives health care coverage from his new employer. He also receives $400.00 per month as an opt out payment from the City. I need to determine if the "opt out" payments continue after age 65.
A current employee is married to a former City employee who has retired. Presumably, the retired employee is covered under the employees' plan. The retiree receives "opt out" payments but I am not sure if the amount is $200.00 or $400.00 per month.
Current Employees Who are Being Paid a Pension by the City
The current Police Chief is being paid a pension of $5,612.48 per month by the City. There may be other full time or part time employees who are also receiving pension benefits and may have received severance pay equal to the equivalent of 26 weeks of pay.
Job Posting for a Finance Director/City Treasurer
In a posting dated May 21, 2010, the City advertised a job opening for a Finance Director / City Treasurer. The salary rate was listed as $100,000+ D.O.Q. Given the current economy, I question why such a high starting salary was listed. I assume the + D.O.Q. meant more than $100,000.00 Depending on Qualifications. While it's an important job, I would assume that many qualified candidates would have applied if the starting salary was less. I suspect, but do no know for a fact, that individuals in that department were at such levels that the higher starting level was posted.
The high cost of outside legal counsel
While I realize the trend is to privatize services, I believe the City could save a substantial amount of money by hiring a City Attorney. In the fiscal year ended June 30, 2008, the City paid $543,222.90 to one legal firm. Perhaps outside counsel is necessary to represent the City in difficult litigation but I believe it would save the City a substantial amount of money if a full time City Attorney were hired. I am confident that a well qualified candidate could be found who could adequately represent the City in routine matters plus offer guidance to Council and other Commissions during some rather lengthy meetings. I believe this could result in a significant saving to the City.
City services provided to a Resident
This happened in May, 2006. I observed two City trucks and at least three employees removing a tree and chipping the branches in the front yard of a home in my subdivision. The street was not a major road and the tree was a number of feet from the road but within the right of way. I attempted to get an explanation but never did receive an adequate response. The tree probably had the ash borer decease but was alive the prior year and certainly not a hazard requiring the City to cut it down free of charge. The home was not occupied by a resident but was a advertised for rent. When I inquired was this was a service provided free of charge to all residents, I received a negative response.
Here is a section from the City code:
Sec.
31-4. Removal of dead, diseased and prohibited trees.
All
dead trees and trees afflicted with any fatal or communicable disease shall be
removed by the department or private contractor with the approval of the
director of public services. The city manager is authorized to direct the
department to remove any tree of a prohibited species, but
the cost of such removal shall not be assessed against the property benefitted unless
the council shall have approved the removal under the provisions of the
preceding section. (emphasis added)
(Code
1981, § 13.040)
Administrative Fee
Did you examine your property tax bill closely this year? Something new was added. No, not a tax, but a 1% Admin Fee.
School Taxes
For a number of years, home values increased, at least on paper. The increase in the taxable base was limited, which meant that the State Equalized Value (in theory equal to 1/2 of the market value) might have exceeded the taxable value or the base on which property taxes were calculated. Property values have decreased since 2007. I assume that in most cases, the SEV is now equal to the taxable value.
However, not all taxes have gone down proportionately. Take a look at your bills over the past few years. The supplemental school tax is split evenly between the summer and winter tax bills. The amount billed in the summer and winter in mills have been as follows:
While residential rates have increased, "industrial" taxpayer rates on personal property were reduced dramatically by the State Legislature in 2008. This coincided with the enactment of the Michigan Business Tax. Of course, the reduced taxes paid by the "industrials" must be made up through other means. I put quote marks around industrials because it sure looks like many of these companies along 12 Mile Road don't fit the typical image of an industrial complex.
Letter to the Editor:
Here is a copy of a letter I recently submitted to the Farmington Observer. It was printed on January 20, 2011.
Budget
Solutions
Here
we go again, so the City is ‘out of tricks’ in its budget battle.
Here are some common sense ideas.
If
a merger with the City of Farmington is not realistic, at least merge some
departments. As a starter, how
about Police, Fire, Assessing, Engineering, City Clerk, Finance, Human Resources
and Public Services.
Then
let’s have an honest evaluation of salaries and employee benefits.
For instance, why did the City advertise for a new Finance
Director/Treasurer at a starting salary of $100,000 plus?
Are you suggesting that qualified candidates couldn’t be found for less
or perhaps other employees working in that department were already earning more?
Let’s
look at health care costs and compare those costs with many in the private
sector. At least those fortunate
enough to have health care coverage.
Then
eliminate the $200.00 or $400.00 per month “opt out” payments for eligible
employees who leave or retire from the City but opt out of the health care plan.
Does the City really need to provide $200.00 or perhaps it is $400.00 per
month to the retired spouse of a current employee, when that employee’s
insurance covers the retired spouse?
Then
eliminate the double dipping. I’m
sure we would all like to retire early, take another job, and then receive full
pay, a full pension and either continuing health care coverage or a monthly
“opt out” payment. How many
current full time or part time employees are receiving a City pension and a City
salary?
When
times were good and home prices and thus property taxes were being artificially
inflated, salaries and benefits were increased.
Now is the time to consider reductions.
Then
let’s talk transparency so all taxpayers can see for themselves the savings
and costs built into the budget.
I
recommend the City’s website include, but not be limited to, the following:
The
savings the City has realized and will build into the budget in utility
costs as a result of the new City Hall addition.
The
reduction in maintenance costs the City expects to realize as a result of
the renovations and new addition.
The
savings the City expects to realize in labor efficiencies as a result of the
renovations and new addition.
A
listing of all benefits available to City employees and the cost of each.
A
listing, that does not have to include names, of all retirees that
identifies the annual pension of each and the cost of all other provided
retiree benefits to include health care and “opt out” payments.
A
listing, that does not have to include names, of all current employees that
identifies the annual salary and the cost of benefits provided broken down
by each benefit.
An
easily understood profit and loss statement of the golf course and skating
rink.
In the January 24, 2011 City Council Regular Meeting, there was an Awarded Bids/Contracts for golf carts for $180,700.00.