Community center bond proposal under review

By Grace Lovins

Discussions on a potential bond proposal to fund the future Birmingham community and senior center, the home for Next senior services and the YMCA at 400 E. Lincoln, continued during the Monday, March 25, city commission meeting.

Commissioners first reviewed bond proposal language in mid-January, during which time the commission agreed that a May bond vote wouldn’t leave enough time for public outreach. They also wanted more details about the project itself, including building and operating costs, before discussing the language of the ballot question.

The bond proposal is required to tell voters the dollar amount to be borrowed, the duration of the bond, the purpose of the bond issue and the milage estimate, said Patrick McGow, bond counsel with Miller Canfield.

After deciding during their last discussion that a May special election was too soon, the city is looking at either an August special election or putting the proposal on the November election ballot when some city commission seats will be decided. If the city were to hold an August special election, they would need to file the ballot proposal with the city clerk by May 13. A November election would require filing by August 13.

For a $32 million bond amount, McGow said that a 20-year bond would have an annual estimated rate of 0.52 mills and a 25-year bond would have an estimated rate of 0.4446 mills.

Commissioners Andrew Haig and Clinton Baller offered the most criticism of the ballot language, both saying the language doesn’t adequately tell voters what they need to know about the project. Baller highlighted the fact that the ballot language doesn’t mention Next senior services or the YMCA, which will be located in the center, while Haig argued that voters need to know they are going to be paying more at the end of the bond due to interest.

City manger Jana Ecker explained another potential, and more controversial, option to fund the bonds which would entail decreasing the annual Baldwin Public Library millage rate. Per Ecker and city attorney Mary Kucharek, the city could decide to return the library’s millage rate to its pre-construction level and choose not to levy the final year of the senior services millage already approved by voters, which would generate funding for the community center without increasing the overall annual millage rate paid by taxpayers.

“The city administration’s recent actions have put the library board and me in the unfortunate position of pitting the library against Next,” said Rebekah Craft, director of the Baldwin Public Library.

Craft told commissioners that the library is improperly being treated as a department of the city but it was established as a PA164 Library, giving them specific authority, including setting the millage rate. Craft and several library board members emphasized that cutting the library’s funding is not legal under state law and would be detrimental to the library’s operations.

City commissioners took no formal action on deciding bond options, but directed city staff and bond counsel to adjust the language of the proposed ballot question based on their feedback before they move to decide a bond duration. They also suggested returning with a different proposal negotiated with the library.

Commissioners Katie Schafer and Jason Emerine were absent from discussions.