Rochester City Council Proposes Special Meeting to Resolve Impasse Over OPC Budget

The Rochester City Council unanimously decided Monday to schedule a special meeting Dec. 29 where members will attempt to resolve a dispute over the 2012 operating budget for the .

Rochester Mayor Pro-Tem Jeffrey Cuthbertson started the motion in hopes Council will be able to find a solution to the budget concerns with one or all of the involved entities: Rochester Hills City Council, Oakland Township's Board of Trustees and the OPC governing board. The motion passed after about an hour of deliberations.

The OPC, a community hub for seniors, is funded by taxpayer dollars from Rochester, Rochester Hills and Oakland Township and is governed by a board made up of elected and citizen representatives from each of the three communities.

As part of the interlocal agreement that governs the OPC, the budget must be approved each year by each community. If the budget is not passed, the OPC would potentially be in violation of state law, according to Rochester city attorney Jeffrey Kragt.

Implications of a failure to resolve this budget issue could include closure of the OPC.

The original proposed budget, approved by both the Rochester Hills Council and the Oakland Township Trustees, was rejected by Rochester City Council.

Controversy over increased salary, benefits

Rochester's City Council rejected the original budget and proposed an alternate budget in October. That alternative leaves out some controversial provisions to increase salary, benefits and pensions of OPC employees, including a 17.5 percent compensation raise to OPC Executive Director Marye Miller.

"She’s getting a 17.5-percent compensation increase from 2011 to 2012.  That’s what we’re talking about here,” Rochester Mayor Stuart Bikson said. “We all support the OPC, but we don’t support those kind of raises."

Miller was not present at the meeting, but her daughter and Rochester City Councilwoman Kim Russell was. "I do share frustration, but I don’t share the same viewpoint or knowledge,” Russell said.

Russell said she would abstain from a new vote, but praised the OPC's community importance and national recognition.

"The OPC is a landmark and has put Rochester over the top,” Russell said.

Bikson serves as Rochester City Council’s liaison on the OPC governing board, and has previously stated at the OPC meetings he thought the Rochester City Council would not support such large increases.

“We’re put in the position where we give these big compensation increases or we shut down the OPC.  I don’t consider that good leadership by the OPC governing board,” Bikson said.

The other communities

Rochester Hills City Council on Dec. 12  proposed by Rochester's City Council, with Rochester Hills Councilmen Ravi Yalamanchi and Michael Webber (both members of the OPC governing board) expressing their support of the original budget.  The vote to reject the alternate budget passed 7-0.

At that meeting, Rochester Hills city attorney John Staran said that like any other government entity, the OPC ultimately has to have a budget it operates under. "This is going to have to be worked out — there has to be a political solution between communities," Staran said.

The Oakland Township Board of Trustees also proposed by Rochester's City Council, with Trustee Mark Edwards noting Rochester's contributions to the OPC are the smallest of the three entities.

“I think it’s pretty alarming that the other member communities are willing to risk the future of the OPC to protect unwise taxpayer-funded increases for employees,” Cutherbertson said on Monday.

"Rochester’s actions in my opinion provide much needed oversight on compensation increases.  Dismissing this responsible course as “micro management” is simply a straw man's argument borne of political expediency," Cuthbertson said.

What's next?

If none of the other entities responds to Rochester City Council's call for a special meeting the meeting will be canceled, said Cuthbertson, and Rochester City Council will discuss its next plan of action at its  Jan. 9 council meeting.

“Let’s talk about a solution.  This doesn’t have to be ours entirely but this is what we’ve presented,” Cuthbertson said.

Bikson wants either a new interlocal agreement or perhaps to go in another direction. Otherwise he fears the council will be presented with another OPC budget with compensation increases in 2012.

“I want to give this every chance to succeed, but there is nothing like a deadline to get a deal done.  Anybody who thinks this is a game of chicken really should be thinking twice about their actions,” Cuthbertson said.

Without an approved budget, the  OPC would potentially be in violation of Michigan's Uniform Budgeting and Accounting Act, according to Rochester city attorney Kragt. The state attorney general’s office could be notified if this act is violated.

The OPC is closed Jan. 1-2 for the holidays.