Almont entities try to agree on PD contract

Village asks township for $673,000; Twp. says $650,000

 

ALMONT TWP. — The Almont Township Board met in special session Tuesday morning, June 24, for the purpose of discussing police protection and a new contract with the Village of Almont.

Negotiations have been on-going for some time between the two entities. There was a sense of urgency for the two sides to come to an agreement by the time the three-year contract expired on June 30, 2025.

During the meeting, Supervisor Gary Groesbeck said he believed the board was united in their feelings to keep the township’s police coverage with the village, but noted options were available if an agreement couldn’t be reached.

Responding to Facebook comments that he felt were uncalled for, Trustee Rick Dodge said, “Our TOP priority is to retain Almont PD as our police dept. for the township.”

Dodge said the Village of Almont notified the township on or around May 9 of the new contract – raising it 67% (approx. $300,000) per year. “This new contract would contain NO added coverage or enhancements for the township” he said.

In his social media post, he went on to point out, “the Village of Almont owns the police department entirely. The township simply contracts with them for coverage – which is (1) officer – 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. It takes roughly 4 officers to fulfill that coverage.”

During the special meeting, board members explained the township has no say in the police dept. nor do they select the officers or vehicles. It’s simply a contracted service.

Dodge stated, “The township board fully supports the pay increase (14%) to the officers. In fact, I personally wish this was done sooner and we may have retained good officers that left for better money.”

While going to a contracted service agreement with the Lapeer County Sheriff Dept. was an option, it’s not one board members want.

Treasurer, Kim Streeter, stated “It’s a big number for all of us. But, the sheriff department numbers are large too. I think we’d be willing to pay a little more for better local coverage, and knowing an officer from the village would show up faster.”

A potential agreement with the sheriff department would be for the same coverage (1 officer – 24/7) that would be stationed in Almont, not deployed from the county sheriffs dept., according to Dodge.

Township officials agreed their first choice is, and has been, coverage by the Almont Police Department.

According to township officials, the township had offered the village a 27% increase, but that was rejected.

Dodge said, “This far exceeds the 14% pay increase to the officers. A proposal for a month to month extension was presented to the village, to give more time to resolve this (contract). That was also rejected.”

The township says they were given around seven weeks to reach an agreement on a new contract, based on the May 9 notification from Village Manager, Dale Kerbyson.

In his statement on social media, Dodge said, “We are doing all we can to resolve this as quickly as possible while staying with Almont PD, no reduction in current police coverage and having the least tax increase to the residents of Almont Township.”

During public comment time, Kerbyson told the township board, “A contract between the village and township has been in place for years. It has become clear to the village that the contract is severely lopsided, greatly benefitting the township. You get 60% of the service for 40% of the costs.”

He went on to add, “The police department has a budget of $1.5 million, without equipment costs. The village proposed you pay $673,000, which is less than the $750,000 that would be a 50-50 share.”

Board members pointed out the 60% number includes the school liaison officer. That position is paid by the county, not a municipality, bringing down the Almont Twp. share to 42%.

The Board said they realized the impact the contract issue would have on the village and Almont PD, if negotiations did not produce a new agreement.

The township met again two days later, on Thursday evening, for the sole purpose of public safety.

Trustee Randy Eschenburg said, “We made two motions. One was to pay the village $650,000 for police coverage. That passed on a 4-2 vote. Then, we approved increasing the special assessment rate for police protection from the current 2.0 percent rate to 2.25. That will generate $590,000 each year.”

Eschenburg said as of noon Friday, he was unaware if the village had received a copy of the agreement for their review, or not.

The township board said they wanted to make sure of what they were getting for services. “To go from $450,000 a year to $750,000, that’s quite a jump,” Eschenburg said. “That’s $300,000, for no additional services.”

Legal counsel for both sides were involved, trying to come to an understanding with the verbage of the two-page contract.

The board finally agreed to extend an offer of $650,000 for one year.

In a phone interview Friday with the Tri-City Times, Kerbyson said the village had not yet received a copy of the “red line” contract the township had approved at another special meeting, on June 26.

“We don’t anticipate any break in coverage for police protection for the township,” Kerbyson said. “We believe we can come to an agreement that is workable for both sides. Gary (Groesbeck, Supervisor) has been great to work with and is a great leader for the township. He has been excellent.”

At a village council meeting last month, councilman Steve Schneider, Jr. said, “As far as I am concerned, we are not offering any extensions to a contract. I will not support that. We are not dragging this out. We either make a deal, or we don’t.”

Village officials say they will have to subsidize the police department budget to the tune of $100,000. The township would be paying for manpower only, no overhead costs such as utilities, police vehicles or administrative costs.

“That is the difference of the amount that we had asked for, from the township, the $750,000,” Kerbyson explained. “That amount was simply half of the $1.5 million budget.”

He added, “we want to have a good working relationship with the township and I think we have come a long ways in regards to that. It didn’t always used to be like that. I feel like we are headed in a good direction.”

The village was scheduled to meet Tuesday, July 1. Kerbyson said he anticipated the council would agree to the numbers from the township and a deal would most likely be reached.