Proposed Macomb County budget has a surplus, no tax hikes or layoffs By Christina Hall Detroit Free Press Staff WriterChristina Hall

Macomb County No tax increases or layoffs and a nearly $250,000 budget surplus. Those are the highlights of Macomb County’s proposed 2015 budget presented today to county commissioners. Finance Director Peter Provenzano gave an overall review of the proposed $192-million general fund budget. Officials will take a deeper look at the general fund and special enterprise (mostly grant- driven) budgets during board meetings the next two months.

Some Confusion Commission Chairman David Flynn said the board is looking forward to vetting the proposed budget and will look at comparable counties regarding per-capita expenses. However, he said, “There seems to be some confusion between the executive office and the Finance Department in terms of capital projects. The board and the executive believe we need to move forward with the five-year capital plan as well as the downtown Mt. Clemens (campus) renovation.” “It is a continued frustration that the Finance Department is not willing to fully commit to these projects and offers skewed financial information without context,” Flynn said.

Future Retiree Benefits Last month, the board agreed to take the first steps to borrow money to defray costs of future retiree health care benefits that are underfunded by $270 million and to make improvements at the county’s downtown campus.

Increased Tax Base + Revenue Sharing The proposed 2015 budget shows revenues up 0.8% to $192.8 million with expenditures up 0.5% at $192.5 million. The projected revenue hop is thanks to about $2 million more in property taxes and nearly $4 million in restoration of state revenue-sharing, Provenzano said.

The Economics Revenues = Tax Base * Tax Rate Expenditures are generally considered to be unrelated to tax base. Surplus (Deficit) = Revenues – Taxes. Most governmental bodies (with the exception of the federal government) cannot run deficits. Revenue sharing is upward shift. Tax Base Taxes Revenues Expenditures Deficit Surplus + Revenue Sharing