After five budget work sessions in late September and October, the Leelanau County board of commissioners is preparing to adopt its 2025 budget. Over the course of these sessions, the board discussed revenues and expenses for the senior services department, a possible tax increment financing (TIF) district, next year’s capital projects, and more.
“We’ve got a good indication from you as to a proposed budget. You’ve built in a contingency for some big-ticket items,” Finance Director Cathy Hartesvelt said at the last budget workshop. “If we stick to the schedule, there will be a proposed budget prepared for Nov. 1 to be put in your hands.”
The proposed budget will be made available to the public online at leelanau.gov with physical copies at the government center in Suttons Bay available Nov. 8. The county board of commissioners will review the budget at their executive session Nov. 12 and may approve it following a public hearing before their Nov. 19 session.
According to department Director Lena Vander Meulen and Finance Director Hartesvelt, the county’s senior services department could come in $200,000 under budget this year. Hartesvelt said the revenue for senior services is about $1.2 million and expenses were projected to be $1.5 million, but closer to $1.3 million in practice.
“It has to do a lot with partition: death, people moving. People coming in the county or turning 60 (years old) – we don’t know if they’re unqualified (for senior services and programs). There’re variables there to take into account. But sadly, Lena has lost quite a few clients this year,” Hartesvelt said.
Vander Meulen clarified that more people are registered within the senior services department now, but less seniors need or qualify for in-home services. In the aging update Vander Meulen delivered to the county board in July, 83 seniors in Leelanau County received inhome services last year.
“We are serving many more seniors right now, but there is a different capacity right now,” Vander Meulen said. “For the in-home services where’s an application and income and asset testing for that – that’s where we’re seeing the decline. Because one, people can’t afford to be here, as we all know … and also deaths.”
Traverse Area District Library requested an apportionment of the county budget be made towards the library’s “talking book” program, part of the National Library Service for the blind and print disabled. Library Director Michele Howard said there are 36 registered talking book library users in Leelanau County. Some of the money for this will come from the senior services department.
Suttons Bay Village asked the county board to opt into a TIF district for its Downtown Development Authority (DDA). Sutton Bay Village’s DDA was established in 2018 to “stabilize conditions in downtown Suttons Bay, assist businesses locating or expanding here, and improve the quality of life,” and it is the only DDA in the county at the time of writing.
According to executive documents, the village adopted a TIF plan to fund the DDA, but the county chose not to opt in. This year, the village asked the county to consider a limited opt-in to help with three improvement projects at their marina, including year-round restrooms, a new pedestrian bridge, and a pavilion.
A letter from village Manager Rob Larrea says opting into the TIF would have a “negligible impact on the county budget but will increase the DDA’s revenue by over 28%” over a five-year period, to include an estimated $27,024 this year and rising to an estimated $37,851 in 2029. However, the board chose not to opt in.
“I wish it was addressing affordable housing or something. Then I would be on board with it. But for a bridge?” Commissioner Kama Ross said.
Interim Administrator Richard Lewis and outgoing Commissioner Melinda Lautner continued to be at odds over the course of these sessions. One point of contention involved the county’s plans to build a cooling tower and air handler at the government center as one of their 2025 capital projects, hoping to fix air conditioning issues in the building. The estimated cost of the project is $410,000.
Lautner apparently believed the county board should award the contract for the cooling tower to a bidder at their December session, which will be her last meeting. However, Lewis said that this choice ought to be made by the newly elected commissioners, who could reverse a decision by the current board. Lautner claimed they would be “absolutely foolish” to not support her choice.
“Let’s just keep moving forward,” Lautner said. “There’s no reason that this board can’t make a recommendation.”
“No. You and I have philosophical differences on that idea,” Lewis told Lautner. “This commission cannot make a commitment for the next commission.”
The board agreed to move on from there, with the other county commissioners appearing to accept Lewis’s reasoning that the final decisions on the capital projects should be left to the next board of commissioners. Other proposed capital projects included new body cameras for the sheriff’s office.
During these sessions, the board reached the consensus that the county would not conduct a wage scale study – at least not under Interim Administrator Richard Lewis. Over the last few months, they have sometimes discussed a study to address some perceived inequities in employee salaries.
For example, Commissioner Gwenne Allgaier takes issue with the senior services director’s starting salary being less than the current wages for the chief deputy employees. However, Commissioners Lautner and Doug Rexroat felt the board should not “micromanage” their employees’ salaries, and Lewis said it was beyond his ability to complete such a study over the remainder of his contract.
The county board also considered a 3% wage increase for its non-union positions, which would total $84,089.98. Per tradition, the board agreed to wait until union contract negotiations conclude before approving such an increase.
