[nfbmi-talk] and lara mcb doesn't want to publish minutes and financials on web?

joe harcz Comcast joeharcz at comcast.net
Sat Aug 27 01:48:01 UTC 2011


Why shouldn't state agencies be as transparent as Governor Snyder wants municipalities?

Joe

Flint working on Gov. Rick Snyder's transparency, consolidation, compensation reforms | MLive.com

FLINT, Michigan — The city of Flint is racing to meet Gov. Rick Snyder’s deadlines for government reforms in the hope of getting more funding from the state.

 

Local municipalities have to put the governor’s “best practices” in place if they want to win back a portion of the state-shared revenue that Snyder cut

in his budget plan earlier this year.

 

In Flint, the cut initially equaled a hit of about $8 million to the budget, but officials are hoping to get some of it back by meeting the three deadlines.

 

First up is the “transparency” mandate for local municipalities to publish online a citizens guide to its finances by Oct. 1.

 

Finance Director Michael Townsend said the city is on track to meet the deadline.

 

“We just have to input the numbers and have those up on the website,” said City Councilman Joshua Freeman, chairman of the council’s finance committee.

“That was a pretty easy hurdle to get over.”

 

By Jan. 1, local governments have to submit a plan to consolidate services that will result in a savings to city taxpayers.

 

Townsend said the city is still examining ways it can cut and consolidate, and said the plan is expected to be submitted on time.

 

He said some things the city already has done — such as combining the once-separate budget and finance departments — may also count toward that requirement.

 

“It’s as long as there were savings attached to it,” he said.

 

Finally, the city by May 1 has to develop a plan to change employee compensation in future labor union contracts.

 

The plan has to show the city will cap its employer contribution to employee retirement packages; reduce the multiplier used to calculate pensions to 1.5

percent or 2 percent; prevent “pension spiking” by limiting the amount of paid leave and overtime that can be included in the pension formula; and require

employees to pay at least 20 percent of their health care premiums.

 

“It appears we have to submit a plan that basically says how we could meet that criteria moving forward,” he said.

http://www.mlive.com/news/flint/index.ssf/2011/08/flint_working_on_gov_rick_snyd.html



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