The City of Ypsilanti is nearing the end of the it’s budget drafting process. The budget contains funding to accommodate additional full-time staff, a new payroll system, and Water Street remediation studies. But, to balance the budget as it’s presented, the city will need $3.6 million additional dollars from its general fund balance.
Patrick McLean represents Ypsilanti’s second ward on Ypsilanti City Council. He says the city will balance the budget this year but says it’s unsustainable for the city to continue to rely on the reserve.
“It’s my hope, and I’m going to propose some of this, that we try to avoid the scenario where we don’t have revenues and expenditures in sync. We try to make some more modest cuts without going into cutting personnel.”
McLean says he wants to reduce the city’s dependency on the general fund and establish a “rainy day” fund to prepare the city for any future financial shortfalls.
“One of our areas of focus is to reduce the need to dip into the [general] fund balance. So, that might mean some reduction of expenditures, but it also means keeping an eye on the revenues. And that means expanding our tax base, right? The elephant in the room is our Water Street property.”
McLean says the budget contains significant dollars to study the clean-up process for the city's Water Street property, with the goal of making the site suitable for development.
As written in the city charter, Council will need to adopt a budget for the 2024/25 fiscal year on or before June 7th.
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