Do you know what it costs Bloomfield Township residents to have employees retire at age 50? Many can do this if they have been in the BT workforce for 25 years. If that retiree lives to 90, that is 40 years in retirement. A conservative estimate is $2.4M. Average patrol man/fireman pension – $60K x […]
The Million Dollar + Bloomfield Township Retiree Read More »
In 2009, the Township made plans to put a 10 year millage on the February 2010 ballot. This millage was needed per the Township to offset declining taxable values on homes as a result of the financial/housing crisis. The decline in home values was reducing the revenue needed to run Township services. Township residents narrowly
Fiscal discipline does not apply to Savoie, Keeps or Roncelli Read More »
Bloomfield Township Water & Sewage (W&S) rates has become a hot topic as many residents have been shocked when they received their 4th Quarter 2019 water bills and faced increases that were hundreds of dollars more than in the past. Residents are venting their anger over the past month particularly on Nextdoor.com. What residents may not
Township Water & Sewer Rates and the Lawsuit Read More »
In many meetings, Leo Savoie uses claims of losing public safety employees as justification for charging residents more in taxes. This claim must be questioned on several factors: It assumes the Township has the right size of employees to begin with. Since benchmarking has not been done, it is erroneous to claim that we are
Claim of losing Public Safety employees is faulty Read More »
The Better Bloomfield Township Committee was surprised to learn that many employees get 7 weeks of paid vacation per year. This is in addition to 5 days of sick time per year. To make matters more unbelievable, these days can accrue so that employees can “bank” time. Who made this decision? The people that benefit.
Do you get 7 weeks of paid vacation? Read More »
The Township lost the case on their water and sewer billing practices to residents and has $9M judgement that is being appealed. This process has cost residents nearly $1M in costs for legal counsel and experienced witnesses. The Township is adding these costs on to your water bill. So… while the cost of water delivery
Water law suit legal fees of nearly $1M are being charged to residents Read More »
Under the Township’s health care plan in 2020, a Township employee with a family of four pays $16.68/month in total for medical, prescription, dental, and vision coverage. Supervisor Savoie has argued that this isn’t too generous because they have a high deductible plan ($5,000/employee/year). What he doesn’t tell you is that we, the taxpayers, pay
Employee Healthcare Costs Read More »
Since 2012, the Bloomfield Township Supervisor, Leo Savoie has led with policy and Board votes to benefit employees with very low cost healthcare premiums for a gold star plan, annual pay raises, longevity pay, up to 7 weeks vacation, a 4 day work week and for many a $30K car all paid for by the
Why is Bloomfield Township Supervisor pitting residents against employees? Read More »
Since 2011, Bloomfield Township has opted out of PA 152 requiring that all municipal employees pay 20% of their healthcare premiums. This opt-out has cost residents at least $1.2M per year. With a whopping deficit due to the indulgent benefits already provided to employees and retirees, our elected official must stop opting out of this
Township must stop opting out of 20% employee cost for healthcare premiums Read More »
The Unity Center on Square Lake Road is thorn in the side of many residents who must deal with traffic on residential streets 24 hours a day. Why have elected officials allowed the Unity Center to make property changes without permits? Why are cars allowed to park on residential streets at all hour of the
Multiple Variances for Unity Center; Permits not Obtained Read More »
At every Board meeting, Trustees are asked to approve a variety of expenses with limited detail. Why does the Treasurer not provide a spreadsheet that shows information about the need for the expense, the department it is coming from and what (or why) work was done. Instead, all that is provided is the vendor and
Financial Reporting is weak Read More »
Is this another example of excess with too many staffers, equipment, or retirement costs? Why are other communities able to deliver quality Public Safety for less? Is this another example of staffing levels not being “right sized”? Is this another example of Leo making sensational statements about losing Public Safety employees when in fact we
Why does BT pay $559 per capita for Public Safety when other communities average $239? Read More »
Many residents are surprised to learn that BT has a massive $164M structural deficit. How did this happen and why weren’t better financial controls in place so that this did not occur? There are many responses to this, none of them are good. Elected officials used the pension and healthcare debt like a credit card,
How did we get to massive structural debt? Read More »
The list of employee benefits and perks in Bloomfield Township defies logic give the whopping $164M deficit we have. How have elected officials been able to pay themselves handsomely (salary and benefits) while telling taxpayers they have to pay more? They do this by obfuscating information on the Township website and in meetings where the
Where are the cuts to employee perks and benefits? Read More »
At the August 26 Board meeting, mention was made to hire another consultant to do an analysis of staff function, salary and benefits. Why isn’t this info updated with some regularity? What is the basis for hiring and benefit decisions? While the path to hire a consultant may be needed, there are more immediate ways
The Bloomfield Township (BT) water department had poor billing practices and financial controls on the assessment of water and sewer rates for residents. When water rated spiked significantly about 2014, residents asked questions as to why. BT officials did not have a good answer. A law firm that had successfully won a judgement against another
Elected officials in Bloomfield Township often show disregard for taxpayers during public comment at Board meetings and in responses to phone or email requests. Why? Many of the contentious issues involve spending. Township officials need to make transparency and accountability part of their public service mission. All employees must improve reporting so that residents are
Spending residents money requires transparency and accountability Read More »
There are several questionable operational and planning decisions by employees and elected officials that have cost residents more than they should – 1) the water lawsuit, 2) the Long Pointe sewer extension, 3) the Unity Center zoning and design, 4) arbitration awards for union contract changes, 4) excessive health care fees, 5) investment returns below
BT Employee Competence Read More »
Are you able to retire at age 50 or 52 with 25 years of service? Are you able to get retiree healthcare at no cost? Are you able to get 90% of your salary as pension? Most people will say no to these questions since this kind of high cost legacy has been eliminated. Not
Union contracts need modernization Read More »
For too long, elected leaders have spent taxpayers money with disregard for pension and retiree healthcare benefits. This carelessness is the cause of our massive debt. More spending is not the solution. We learned this when taxes were increased in 2010. Elected official did not tighten their belt. They kept spending. Residents have seen the
Bloomfield Township has a spending problem Read More »