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Finance director seeks FY2025 budget amendments to cover fire contract settlement, MIDC timing, and PRDA overruns
Summary
Finance Director Benjamin Greer asked the council to approve three FY2025 budget adjustments: $265,000 for a fire-department contract settlement, $209,464 for MIDC grant timing/expenditure differences, and $585,239 for Plymouth Road Development Authority overruns; council scheduled the item for the Feb. 23 consent agenda.
Livonia’s finance director told the City Council on Feb. 9 that three final budget amendments are needed to close the books for fiscal year 2025.
Benjamin Greer said the general fund must be adjusted to cover a $265,000 overrun in the fire department budget caused by a post‑budget settlement with the Livonia Firefighters Association. “The fire department in the general fund was $265,000 over budget in fiscal year 20 25 because increased personnel costs were settlement of the contract with the Livonia firefighters association,” Greer said, adding the general fund had an available ending balance of $16,700,000 as of Nov. 30, 2025.
Greer also asked for an increase to Fund 260 (Michigan Indigent Defense Commission grant reimbursements) by $209,464 because the state contract was increased to $700,183 and state fiscal-year timing caused qualifying expenditures to fall into the city’s FY2025. Greer described the MIDC grant as a reimbursement program that pays quarterly after the city incurs qualifying expenses.
The third request covered the Plymouth Road Development Authority (Fund 248), which Greer said was over budget by $585,239 at fiscal year-end. He said irrigation-contract expenditures exceeded budget by $417,008.77 after utilities working in right-of-way damaged PRDA irrigation lines and that land improvement expenditures exceeded budget by $221,004.46; the PRDA expects $378,008.24 in reimbursement from a planned $5,000,000 bond issuance expected in 2026.
Councilmembers asked for backup documentation on the irrigation costs and discussed reimbursable timing for the MIDC and PRDA items; they characterized the requests as expected and offered approval on consent. A resident raised a separate question about other budget-to-actual figures; staff said the current amendments cover only the three items presented and directed the resident to the audience-communication slot for additional questions.
Next steps: The council placed the FY2025 budget amendments on the Feb. 23 consent agenda for formal approval.
