To the editor:
To the residents of the Village of Goodrich I want to say in writing, I have learned from past experience when someone else is spending your money and it does not seem like it is being spent prudently, you had better speak up before it is gone. Look at what happened at Goodrich High School. Look at the state of Michigan. They had surpluses and it is now gone. What did they do? They raised our taxes.
We, the residents, need to speak up and change the spending habits of our village government or be willing to face the same issues our state now faces. In September 2005 we had a total fund balance of more than $1,429,413.02, and now, as of Nov. 30, our total fund balance is down to $914,775.05. That is a drop of $514, 637.97 in nearly 26 months of this administration. We had 22 straight months of total fund balance declines when compared to the same time period the previous year by an average of $209,000. These numbers are not made up, they come right from the monthly treasurer’s report.
I am not questioning what the money was spent on. Whether I agree or not is irrelevant, all that matters is that month in and month out we cannot continue to spend more than comes in and 50 years of savings to balance budgets. Believe me, in the past two years of some unnecessary spending, this administration is well on its way to having a majority of our fund surplus gone.
Like the state of Michigan just did, our administration in the village will have to raise taxes, and they have already started. With a sewer increase coming in July and continuing for the next several years. This could be, well, the beginning. I am asking you, the residents, do not listen to Pete Morey and his relatives, the administration, nor myself. I am asking you, go to the village offices and ask for a copy of the treasurer’s report from September 2005 and from November 2007. Then compare the fund balances from each report and ask yourself, where did $514,637.97 go?
Is this the proper time economically to be spending large portions of our surplus from previous years? If your answer is no, please help me in getting this point across. With your support at the village meetings, and in my attempt to recall four members of the village council.
Go to the village offices and see for yourself where the money has gone and the excuses. Many are we fixed this and that, we bought this and that. Well my question is, did we really need all of this and that? The thing that strikes me is from all my questioning of this administration is the same people that will tell me in the paper to leave the village alone, or move if I don’t like the way it is run are the very ones that tried to vacate the village when they disagreed with how it was run in the past, but now that they control the village, do not question them.
The likes of Pete Morey, Rick Horton, Rod Pierson, Angie Adamic, Keith Wallworth, Joyce Welch Baker, Pat Schirup, Norm Bass, and Debra Cahill are, to name a few, the ones who will criticize those that question them. They are the very ones that have tried at least once to vacate the village. Well, I have never signed a petition to vacate the village and my only intentions, past, present, and future are to get more residents involved in the process of running the village and spending our money.
Please attend the monthly meetings. I believe that I have had some success in increasing monthly meeting attendance through off site meetings and flyers. The recall attempt of Rick Horton, Pete Morey, Ed York, and Dave Lucik is not about me, my finances past or present, nor my ambitions to be a councilmember.
I do commend current and past councilmembers for taking time out of their monthly schedules to make the village a better place. My concern is that these four councilmembers have not shown good fiscal decisions on setting a balanced budget without dipping into past fund surpluses to balance the village budget.
We need five councilmembers that are willing to find ways to protect our property values, promote business growth, generate new and alternative revenue sources, develop and strengthen our parks and environment, and do all of the above without spending more money that is generated yearly so as to protect as much of our fund balances as possible and within reason.
Greg Tankersly
Goodrich