Help Rochester Hills Determine How to Fund Police Services

How should Rochester Hills fund police services? It's a question that a committee of elected officials and citizen representatives are hoping residents can help answer tonight.

The Police and Road Funding Technical Review Committee was formed in 2008 to study funding strategies for police services and roads. A special meeting tonight will focus on police: two millages that support police services are set to expire next year.

The 6:30 p.m. meeting at is open to the public.

How you pay now

Rochester Hills contracts with the for police services, which cost $8.7 million in 2011.

Currently, the city's general fund supports about 47 percent of police services. 

About 43 percent of the police funding comes from property taxes:

• Residents in 2011 paid about $3.8 million from 1.2083 mills in property tax.
• The millages were a seven-year 0.4260 millage and a 20-year 0.7823 millage.
• The millages are set to expire in 2013.

(For a detailed look at city millages, see the attached "Operating Millages" file.)

About 10 percent of the funding for police services comes from other sources.

How you'll pay in the future

According to data compiled by the technical review committee, Rochester Hills has maintained the lowest costs and lowest ratio of police officers per capita of most Oakland County cities. Rochester Hills has 57 officers, which amounts to 0.81 officers per 1,000 residents. By comparison, Troy, which has a $27.5 million police budget, has 123 officers — a 1.54 ratio per 1,000 residents.

Some of the alternatives the technical review committee has identified are:

• Asking voters to renew the police millages or approve a new dedicated police millage.
• A change in the city's charter that would include a perpetual police millage.
• Proposing a millage to fund "quality of life" services such as parks, local roads, green space or road construction.

How to provide input

If you can't attend tonight's meeting, you can send your thoughts to the committee by email to webberm+prtrc@rochesterhills.org.

The committee includes Rochester Hills City Council President Greg Hooper, Vice President Michael Webber and citizen representatives Don Cline Jr., Dale Hetrick, Walter Johnson, Linda Raschke, LeAnne Rogers, Nancy Soisson and Tom Stephens. Capt. Mike Johnson of the Oakland County Sheriff's Office is also a member of the committee, as are Rochester Hills Government Youth Council representatives Amith Diwakar, Farha Hanif and Nicholas Michetti.