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City reviews assessor contract and trims zoning board contractual request
Summary
Council reviewed the assessor's FY25–26 budget, including a $384,009 contract and $16,800 in required annual mailings, and questioned a $4,500 contractual-services request from the Zoning Board of Appeals that administration declined to fund.
The Dearborn Heights City Council reviewed budget requests for the assessor's office and the Zoning Board of Appeals during its April 15 departmental budget hearing.
The assessor, Kim, told council the assessor's office budget is driven largely by an existing contract—"That's the $384,009.09"—and line items for required annual mailings. Kim said $16,800 of a $17,000 supplies line is for printing and sending legally required change-of-assessment notices and personal property statements each January, leaving roughly $3,400 for other office supplies.
Councilors then briefly reviewed Department 247, the Zoning Board of Appeals. Administration recommended a modest total budget (about $8,000). Council discussed a requested $4,500 for contractual services—described in the packet as assistance for technical or engineering reviews—and noted that department staff and the city engineer normally support the zoning board. Administration did not allocate the requested contractual-services amount. One councilor suggested a minimum allocation of $500 but other members questioned the need; no additional contractual-services funding was approved in the hearing.
Councilors also discussed attendance and overtime issues that affect the zoning board's staffing; a staff member (Carrie) was not attending board meetings because of overtime constraints, which prompted a brief conversation about whether overtime or contractual services were the appropriate funding mechanism. Administration indicated contractual services would not be used to pay overtime salaries.
The council moved on after confirming the assessor's contractual and mailing costs and after the zoning board discussion yielded no change in the contractual-services allocation.
The hearing records no final ordinance or formal vote on these departmental budgets at this session; the items remained part of the recommended budget discussion.
