It's just a matter of time before Detroit's emergency manager slashes the cost of keeping Detroit's full-time city council, suggests a Free Press report by Joe Guillen and Matt Helms. The ax could fall soon, according to their Page One lead article.
The costs of administering a shrinking city are certain to be something emergency manager Kevyn Orr considers as he reviews pay and benefits of all Detroit city workers, council members included, in his effort to pull Detroit from the brink of bankruptcy.
On Monday, Orr delivers his first state-mandated report since taking office March 25. No confirmed details have leaked, but the Free Press journalists note:
Consultants working with Orr have recommended the council be made part-time and their staffs slashed to one aide each. Mayor Dave Bing also wants to pare down the council’s cost. The budget he’s recommending for the upcoming fiscal year reduces the council’s annual spending by 33%, to about $7 million. . . .
When it comes to the percentage of their general fund, Detroit’s council spent more than at least 15 major cities, according to a 2011 survey. Detroit’s council ate up a little more than 1% of the city’s budget while the median figure for all 15 cities was 0.46%.
The Free Press spoke with Detroit Council President Charles Pugh, who sees current pay as appropriate.
The council president — who has a base salary of $76,911 a year, plus health care, a pension, a city-owned car filled up with city-paid gas and a city-issued cell phone — said his compensation is not excessive. . . .
“I don’t have that luxury of just being off duty at dinner with my family or sitting at Starbucks. This is more than a full-time job. This is an overtime job that we don’t get paid overtime, by the way.”
His eight colleagues are paid $73,100 annually and also can use a city car and gas card -- a perk four decline, according to the Free Press.
The council’s current budget of $10.7 million is down from a $14.3-million allotment in 2009-10, the paper says.
The deadline for approving a 2012-13 fiscal year budget is June 30. Orr will have final say on that budget.
