Bloomfield Hills City Commission Approves Baldwin Deal

took one step closer to serving the residents of Bloomfield Hills Tuesday night.

At their regular meeting, Bloomfield Hills city commissioners approved the service-sharing offer sent to them by Baldwin officials late last week, and instructed Bloomfield Hills City Manager Jay Cravens to draft a ballot proposal for a 0.4 mills tax levy to go on the November ballot.

If approved, the money raised would allow city residents to use Baldwin for the next three years and bring in enough money to allow Baldwin to stay open longer and reduce its operating deficit.

Bloomfield Hills has been seeking library services since November, when residents voted against renewing the city’s contract with the Bloomfield Township Public Library. . Bloomfield Hills' roughly 4,000 residents have been without a library of their own for seven years.

Cravens told the commission that negotiations have been under way for months and that to craft the offer.

In the offer, Baldwin asks for $268,681 for the first year. The rate would be increased each subsequent year by 5 percent or the inflation rate, whichever is less. Cravens said the request to voters would probably be for 0.396 mills.

To determine the cost and millage rate, officials said negotiators calculated an average per household cost for library services in 2011-12 to be $180.44, then multiplied that by the number of households in the city, according to the 2010 census (1,489).

This is less than Baldwin's first offer to the city, in which it asked for $380,000 per year — a figure rebuffed by Bloomfield Hills commissioners. In that offer, Bloomfield Hills residents would pay the same per household costs as Birmingham residents, or $239.

Cravens said he would start drafting a formal contract with Baldwin and ballot language right away.

City Attorney William Hampton warned that time was an issue and that any ballot language should be approved in July in order to be ready by August to appear on November's ballot. Meanwhile, Treasurer Lisa Dolan reminded the commission that even if the initiative passed in November, funds would not be collected until July 2012.

Resident Marilyn Mast asked whether requesting a millage was the only way for Bloomfield Hills to gain access to a library. Mayor Michael Zambricki said that it was the only way to go after two previous ballot proposals failed.

"Because two ballot initiatives were defeated, for the city to go ahead and approve the expense would not go over well," he explained.

Mast said she would support a millage request. Resident Judith Hoppin said she would, too.

"I do support a library issue," Hoppin said. "It's a shame a city like this doesn't have a library. The cost per household would be negligible, like $45 or $50 a year on a $300,000 house."

For Baldwin, a contract with Bloomfield Hills means even more. According to Baldwin Library Director Doug Koschik, a contract with Bloomfield Hills — at the price set by the library board — would allow the library to return to its full 67-hour weekly schedule. Under the 2011-12 budget, adopted by the city May 23, Baldwin was looking to move to a 62-hour week due to budget constraints.