  Johnlodge Member Username: Johnlodge Post Number: 4011 Registered: 10-2003 |
In a time where Michigan and its cities are struggling, the fine leadership of my fair city has managed a $1.25 million budget surplus. Councilman Galloway would like to put it in a rainy day fund. Manager Bruner would like to use it to upgrade the courthouse and fire department facilities. Mayor-elect Covey thinks the money should be given back to the people of Ferndale by means of tax cuts. Personally, I think they should find a good use for it. I don't need a small tax cut if the money can be spent on good things for the city. Congrats Ferndale! Danny, shut it. | ||
Johnlodge Member Username: Johnlodge Post Number: 4012 Registered: 10-2003 |
Oh yeah, fellow Ferndale residents (and anybody else who has an opinion) what would you want to see done with that money? | ||
Bearinabox Member Username: Bearinabox Post Number: 436 Registered: 04-2006 |
I'll take it if nobody else wants it. | ||
Crawford Member Username: Crawford Post Number: 186 Registered: 10-2006 |
Spend it on the schools. Unlike the rest of the city, they are declining. | ||
Downtown_remix Member Username: Downtown_remix Post Number: 552 Registered: 03-2007 |
SPEND IT ON TRANSIT, A COMMUTER RAIL STATION WILL PROB BE BUILT FOR THE AA-DET LINE ON WOODWARD AN 9 MILE | ||
Crumbled_pavement Member Username: Crumbled_pavement Post Number: 56 Registered: 08-2007 |
Put it in the rainy day fund. | ||
Spiritofdetroit Member Username: Spiritofdetroit Post Number: 784 Registered: 11-2006 |
give it to detroit  | ||
Johnlodge Member Username: Johnlodge Post Number: 4014 Registered: 10-2003 |
Spirit. Downtown_Remix, Ferndale is so pro-transit system, I could ALMOST see them building a rail station with no rail system just in hopes of it being useful one day, LOL. | ||
Terryh Member Username: Terryh Post Number: 588 Registered: 11-2006 |
That surplus is another reason to be proud to live in Ferndale. Why not divide the money among the residents? lol. Keep half in the rainy day fund to collect interest, and spend the other half on schools; police; fire etc. | ||
Douglasm Member Username: Douglasm Post Number: 975 Registered: 10-2003 |
I doubt if the city can give money to the school district, a seperate government entity. It would be gifting of city funds, which in most states is illegal. A tax rebate would be under $50 per resident so I'd stick it in an interest bearing rainy day fund. I don't know what Ferndale's annual budget is, but here in the little Washington town I live in (and am a councilman) we try to keep 10% of our annual budget in the bank. | ||
Trainman Member Username: Trainman Post Number: 578 Registered: 04-2006 |
Great post Johnlodge. Yeah, they should do it and build a rail station, if that is what they all want in Ferndale. I'm hoping to see the public bus systems get much better with lots of new riders. Then, we can go to MDOT, SEMCOG, TRU and other meetings and all work together on making mass transit happen. I want Ferndale to join my efforts to fight the I-94 SEMCOG RTP 935 and I-75 RTP 2514 freeway expansions projects. These projects are senseless and are discrimination against the low income without paying for mass transit first. | ||
Johnlodge Member Username: Johnlodge Post Number: 4017 Registered: 10-2003 |
Doulasm, that's what I thought about the schools too, or else I would say put it there. Rainy day fund is good. Some nice street improvements on Livernois, where the other Ferndale commercial district is starting to show some life might also be worthwhile. | ||
Johnlodge Member Username: Johnlodge Post Number: 4018 Registered: 10-2003 |
Trainman, I believe the Ferndale council agrees with you on that. I don't think they need convincing. Observe the Transportation Initiative on their web site. http://www.ferndale-mi.com/Gov ernment/TransportationAmendmen t.htm | ||
Trainman Member Username: Trainman Post Number: 579 Registered: 04-2006 |
In case the trains don't come, they should make it so buses can be used also. | ||
Trainman Member Username: Trainman Post Number: 580 Registered: 04-2006 |
Johnlodge, The freeway projects are already approved by the Federal Transit Administration. It's stupid that these projects get our tax dollars without protecting our existing needs first and not SMART. And that is why in my city we have no public bus service anymore. Thanks for the post because they should join the Livonia residents working to get SMART back. We need leadership in Lansing to do this. So, Ferndale should help us. | ||
Cinderpath Member Username: Cinderpath Post Number: 316 Registered: 05-2006 |
Wow- this is really cool for our city :-) I would say keep it in the piggy bank. As a train geek, a station with or without service would also be awesome, but I won't lie though, a pool like in Pleasant Ridge would be nice.................. | ||
1953 Member Username: 1953 Post Number: 1492 Registered: 12-2004 |
Hamtramck has a $2 million surplus. | ||
Lilpup Member Username: Lilpup Post Number: 3190 Registered: 06-2004 |
The east end of Ferndale could stand improvement, and perhaps increase policing. Never hurts to have a few more feet on the beat. | ||
Detroitplanner Member Username: Detroitplanner Post Number: 1469 Registered: 04-2006 |
Detroit has a $800 million surplus. It seems Kwame was never good at math in school. | ||
Douglasm Member Username: Douglasm Post Number: 976 Registered: 10-2003 |
Cinderpath..... .....talk to some of the old heads in town about the attempt to put a public outdoor pool in what was then Roosevelt Park back in the '60's. Can you say "NIMBY"? | ||
E_hemingway Member Username: E_hemingway Post Number: 1430 Registered: 11-2004 |
Train Station or Livernois streetscape improvements make a lot of sense. Another idea is buying LED street lights for the downtown or neighborhoods. That would fit in with the city's green leanings and help put it on par with Ann Arbor as far as environmentally aware cities. If the city's rainy day fund is at or above normal levels, I say don't put it there. In that case, treat it like a bonus and spend it on something the city normally wouldn't. | ||
Chandyside Member Username: Chandyside Post Number: 10 Registered: 08-2005 |
Library just got its dough. Schools are a separate entity. Tax is a nominal bit of dough that'd be spent on coffee in a month. I'd like to see a pool on the Kulick Center site if possible or improvements/investment in the Livernois corridor. that area's just begging for some love and it seems so prime for critical mass. Barring that: Rainy day fund and the miracle of compound interest. | ||
Zimm Member Username: Zimm Post Number: 37 Registered: 10-2006 |
i'd like to see them start by buying up the ghetto liquor store on the SE corner of the 696 service drive and Hilton and sell it to a developer willing to put in a strip mall featuring a good chineese takeout joint and a Papa Johns. the owners of those establishments would make a pile of money selling to the underserved populations of NE Ferndale and SE Royal Oak. funding a HUGE crackdown on code violations would be nice as well. if it took adding cops to the force and then giving them all code enforcement power, i'd be cool with that. then set them loose into the neighborhoods, preventing crime and paying for themselves with code violation ticket revenue... (Message edited by zimm on December 06, 2007) | ||
Johnlodge Member Username: Johnlodge Post Number: 4019 Registered: 10-2003 |
I think Livernois corridor improvements are a good idea. It would appease many of the supporters of Gagne, as his platform involved doing more to develop that area instead of just focusing on downtown. Although, as Covey pointed out in his campaign, the Livernois corridor does seem to be springing to life without much help from the city. Still, I think some improvements could help, especially if they could tie into some of the good stuff going on South of 8 mile on Livernois. | ||
Chris_rohn Member Username: Chris_rohn Post Number: 354 Registered: 04-2005 |
I see Ferndale Code Enforcement driving by my house all the time. If you have a complaint about a home on your street you should call the city and have Code Enforcement take a look. They are always very responsive. | ||
Gravitymachine Member Username: Gravitymachine Post Number: 1889 Registered: 05-2005 |
monorail? | ||
Defendbrooklyn Member Username: Defendbrooklyn Post Number: 570 Registered: 11-2005 |
Great news for Ferndale...I like the idea of letting the money make money from interest. I wish they could give me 10-15k to put into my property...that would be great and improve Ferndale at the same time. Ferndale needs to start a lottery system for its residence...We could buy monthly tickets and the winner gets 80% of the loot only to be used for home and/or property improvements. | ||
Mrsjdaniels Member Username: Mrsjdaniels Post Number: 306 Registered: 08-2005 |
I like Brooklyn's idea...city beautification loans | ||
Douglasm Member Username: Douglasm Post Number: 978 Registered: 10-2003 |
I have a stupid question which only goes to re-enforce the fact that I moved out in '73. What's the development along Livernois? When I was younger, there wasn't much between 8 and 9 Mile except Washington school..... | ||
Johnlodge Member Username: Johnlodge Post Number: 4052 Registered: 10-2003 |
There are some art galleries, a doggie day care, and some other businesses along that strip. Previously they were a bunch of empty buildings. | ||
Ferntruth Member Username: Ferntruth Post Number: 256 Registered: 11-2006 |
I just wish someone would buy and reopen Wide-A-Wake market. I miss having it nearby =) | ||
Steelworker Member Username: Steelworker Post Number: 1039 Registered: 02-2004 |
I love the idea of beautification loans. | ||
Danny Member Username: Danny Post Number: 6865 Registered: 02-2004 |
Not bad for a Gay community! Now let them propose a new Downtown Shopping District. | ||
Johnlodge Member Username: Johnlodge Post Number: 4069 Registered: 10-2003 |
Damn, my "Danny, shut it" pre-emptive attack failed. | ||
Lilpup Member Username: Lilpup Post Number: 3196 Registered: 06-2004 |
"sell it to a developer willing to put in a strip mall" strip malls are heinous - no to them everywhere use the money to encourage rehabbing the fantastic 1920s-30s buildings and houses in the area, and try to get businesses into the cool places on Woodward Heights near Hilton | ||
Bulletmagnet Member Username: Bulletmagnet Post Number: 939 Registered: 01-2007 |
I want my money back. Governments are non-profit, so give it back from wince it came. This is a prime example of a government out of control with taxing. Just as a responsible government should not run a deficit, it shouldn’t tax it citizens for profit. This is robbery, plain and simple. | ||
Ferntruth Member Username: Ferntruth Post Number: 258 Registered: 11-2006 |
"Damn, my "Danny, shut it" pre-emptive attack failed." No, it didn't. Your preemptive attack alerted us to the likelihood of an idiotic post from Danny, and so everyone knew to ignore him =) "strip malls are heinous - no to them everywhere " So true! The last thing Ferndale (or any other place for that matter) needs is another strip mall. Would love to see more effort put into developing the business district along Hilton, including the area you mentioned on Woodwood Hgts. | ||
Johnlodge Member Username: Johnlodge Post Number: 4073 Registered: 10-2003 |
Agreed Lilpup, though it is really up to residents to rehab their houses. I've been trying to restore mine in the spirit of when the house was built. I was lucky to have a lot of original hardware in here that I have been able to restore using various methods. You'd be surprised how interested my guests are in something as simple as a 1922 heat register, or a doorknob with the old fashioned key hole in it! The guy I hired to refinish my floors commented on the fact that he rarely sees people who still have an intact original wooden cold-air return grate, but I have two! Oops, that was a tangent, but I get easily excited about that stuff. | ||
Zimm Member Username: Zimm Post Number: 38 Registered: 10-2006 |
"strip malls are heinous - no to them everywhere" fine. you can keep the drug infested, white trash magnet dive of a liquor store that currently sits at that intersection. "use the money to encourage rehabbing the fantastic 1920s-30s buildings and houses in the area" are you familiar with the 696/Hilton area? there are only a handful of houses nearby that date to that period(most tiny worker cottages-under 700 sq feet), and the cheap, dumpy commercial properties in that era look like 50's era to me. i don't particularly like strip malls, but a nice one (with tenants that would serve the non-alchoholic community)on the SE corner of Hilton and the 696 service drive would be a vast improvement. | ||
Johnlodge Member Username: Johnlodge Post Number: 4081 Registered: 10-2003 |
I'd take a "strip mall" in that place, if you make me one concession: Storefronts against sidewalk, parking in rear. Deal? | ||
Lilpup Member Username: Lilpup Post Number: 3199 Registered: 06-2004 |
I am very familiar with the 696/Hilton area. I liked it a lot more before I-696 came along. | ||
Zimm Member Username: Zimm Post Number: 39 Registered: 10-2006 |
"Deal?" deal. especially if it has the good chinese take-out joint and Papa John's pizzeria that I requested earlier... | ||
Rfban Member Username: Rfban Post Number: 219 Registered: 02-2004 |
A municipality is still a business nevertheless, and needs to maintain solid capital reserve for whatever is relevant in the future, i.e., development which embraces its citizens, public transit terminal, or just cash for unsettling times. | ||
Screamingfit Member Username: Screamingfit Post Number: 31 Registered: 03-2006 |
I dig the idea of the LED street lights that a previous poster mentioned. | ||
Douglasm Member Username: Douglasm Post Number: 982 Registered: 10-2003 |
Rfban speaks the truth. In the little town I'm a councilman in, we've just completed the 2008 budget. So many things we want to do, so little bonding capacity. And so few government grants. Anyone got $9 million I can have? We need a sewer treatment plant. The big advantage of socking away as much money as you can is when that BIG project you want to do comes along, the more money you have to spend on it, the less you have to borrow. | ||
Mcp001 Member Username: Mcp001 Post Number: 3137 Registered: 11-2003 |
Any money that government takes, that it doesn't currently need, is theft. Centerline is experiencing a similar problem right now. | ||
Mwilbert Member Username: Mwilbert Post Number: 30 Registered: 11-2007 |
I realize that there is a philosophical issue here, but it is prudent for an organization to have some surplus money to deal with unforeseen contingencies. I can't agree that a small amount of taxation beyond current necessity is theft. In any case, it appears from the Ferndale website that the annual budget of Ferndale is about 40 million dollars. So this surplus is less than 3% of the budget--which I would say is not significant over the course of a year. If they taxed 3% over expenditures for a number of years, I don't think that would be appropriate but I bet they won't. The whole reason this is being discussed is that it is unusual. | ||
Cinderpath Member Username: Cinderpath Post Number: 327 Registered: 05-2006 |
Please- This is smart governing. The city needs some money in the piggy bank for an emergency. Just think if they really needed it and had to ask the taxpayers for something extra or a tax increase for an emergency. We are talking about $62 per citizen here. | ||
Mcp001 Member Username: Mcp001 Post Number: 3138 Registered: 11-2003 |
A dollar here, a dollar there, and soon you'll be dealing with real money. Who couldn't use extra money during a recession? The thing here is, if I had to make the call between the money staying in the city's coffers and going back to the taxpayers, I'd give it back to the taxpayers in a heartbeat. It's not as if the taxpayers couldn't put their money to good use. | ||
Cinderpath Member Username: Cinderpath Post Number: 329 Registered: 05-2006 |
Do you live in Ferndale? | ||
Paulc Member Username: Paulc Post Number: 158 Registered: 03-2005 |
As long as whatever it is used for has ground floor retail. LOL. Cambourne St. represent. | ||
E_hemingway Member Username: E_hemingway Post Number: 1446 Registered: 11-2004 |
The best thing Ferndale could do is invest it in a way that will pay dividends for it in the future (short and long term) so there is less of a need to push new taxes on the community. The LED lights would pay for themselves in electricity savings and longer life within a couple of years. All of the money they save after that is butter for the city. Not to mention, the positive headlines generated by them would go a long way toward cultivating the type of progressive character Ferndale has been so successfully working on for years. They would basically be taking one of the best pages from Ann Arbor's play book. LED lights info: Relume working to cut electricity costs in half for Metro Detroit downtowns http://metromodemedia.com/devn ews/RelumeLED0033.aspx Ann Arbor green initiatives look to conserve, create electricity http://metromodemedia.com/devn ews/LEDsolar20043.aspx Wikipedia entry http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/L ight-emitting_diode Train station If and when the Detroit to Ann Arbor commuter rail line gets off the ground and extends north up to Oakland County, a train station in Ferndale could pay huge dividends in future dense development around it. Not to mention it would also further development of Ferndale's progressive reputation. Train links: Investing In Transit http://metromodemedia.com/feat ures/InvestTransit0045.aspx Start date for Detroit-Ann Arbor commuter line pushed back but still moving forward http://metromodemedia.com/devn ews/detroitannarborline0035.as px Wikipedia entry on transit village http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/T ransit_village Business corridor improvements Helping really jump start Ferndale's other business corridors like it did with it downtown could go a long way toward raising surrounding property values and help bolster the city's identity. That type of investment could pay off for decades. Look at Ann Arbor or Royal Oak's downtowns as examples. Place Matters http://metromodemedia.com/feat ures/PlaceMatters0034.aspx There are a lot of options for Ferndale with this surplus. It's nice to have options. But they don't mean much if the day comes when the city needs money and doesn't have enough. If the rainy day fund is at its normal levels, go for something extra. If not, build it up for that rainy day. | ||
Ferntruth Member Username: Ferntruth Post Number: 260 Registered: 11-2006 |
"fine. you can keep the drug infested, white trash magnet dive of a liquor store that currently sits at that intersection." Oh please. The best argument you can come up with for putting a strip mall there is this? I'd rather have the police crack down on this supposed "white trash magnet" (whatever that means) than build yet another strip mall that will only be 80% or so occupied (based on the others in the area). | ||
Newlaster Member Username: Newlaster Post Number: 225 Registered: 06-2004 |
My vote is for LED lights. |
