Eaton County outlines deep staff cuts and urges public safety millage to close budget gap

Eaton County officials on Wednesday presented budget scenarios showing large, recurring shortfalls that would require major personnel reductions unless voters approve a proposed public safety millage in May.

Controller Connie Sobe and her staff told the Board of Commissioners that under current staffing the county will face growing deficits driven largely by rising pension costs and legacy liabilities. Sobe said the county previously held a near $9,000,000 fund balance because many positions were unfilled, but that continuing current staffing would leave the county “in a deficit of 25,000,000” by 2030 unless action is taken. She and financial staff presented models that reduce 76 to 98 positions in different scenarios to stabilize the general fund in the short term.

The presentation matters because the county’s pension obligations and public safety staffing together drive most of the projected shortfalls. Sobe told commissioners that the county must factor in contributions to MERS and legacy pension costs; she said command-level pension contributions are particularly large and that the county’s share could rise markedly in coming years. The administration said those pension costs mean “a dollar of cuts does not equate to a dollar of savings,” estimating roughly $0.58 on the dollar would need to be set aside for long-term pension liability when positions are eliminated.

Officials laid out a menu of proposed reductions and tradeoffs. The scenarios discussed would: eliminate the county’s animal-control personnel; scale back the county road-patrol presence (including reductions tied to the Delta Township contract); remove some prosecuting-attorney and court-related positions; and cut or reduce funding to several external agencies and contracts.…