Messages

Message published October 6, 2011, Updated: December 22, 2011

Economic Vitality Incentive Program

Long gone are the days when the state routinely sent funds to cities like ours as part of the statutory revenue-sharing program. As belts continue to be tightened across the state and the nation, Michigan has established three criteria that must be met before any checks are cut. Even then, the City of Royal Oak will receive only two-thirds of statutory the revenue-sharing funds; the other third has been eliminated as Lansing tries to balance its own budget.

Royal Oak has three specific requirements:

• Establishing the Citizen’s Guide to Finances and Performance Dashboard. Beginning in October, each city must provide detailed data that helps measure quality of life. The report reflects the city’s stability, economic strength and public safety. While Royal Oak has always compiled this data, it was geared more towards finance wizards than the average citizen. This new system is compiled in layman’s terms and is very easy to understand – even if you aren’t a CPA.

  Some interesting facts from the Dashboard

  ** Our population remains steady at 57,236 residents.

  ** 83.1 percent of Royal Oakers were registered to vote in 2010 -- 165 more than in 2009.

  ** Crimes, fires and traffic accidents were all down in 2010 compared to the year before.

Complete Citizen's Guide to Finance and Performance Dashboard               

• Planning for Cooperation/Collaboration. Royal Oak has been a leader in this area and we continue to work with surrounding communities to find ways to increase efficiency and lower costs. Every idea is being explored, and many steps have already been taken that have saved taxpayers thousands of dollars.

  Report on Collaboration, Cooperation and Consolidation Efforts (updated: 12-22-2011)

• Reducing Employee Health Care/Retirement Costs. All non-uniformed city employees are now paying more than ever before in out-of-pocket healthcare costs. These concessions are essential to the city’s success and I can’t over-emphasize their importance going forward. I want to express my heartfelt thanks to each and every employee for their sacrifice. We asked them for concessions again, and again they gave concessions. It demonstrates their dedication to the City of Royal Oak, to the residents and to their own jobs.

  As City Manager Donald E. Johnson said, “I know these concessions were difficult for the employees to make, but they will result in major savings in our health care and pension costs. This means all of our non-uniformed employees have stepped up. We still need to work out agreements with the Police and Fire Bargaining Units.”

We’re all facing these uncertain financial times together. Please don’t hesitate to contact me with suggestions on how we can live leaner while still maintaining Royal Oak as a wonderful place to live and visit.

Message from Mayor Ellison, published September 28, 2011

New Downtown Parking Meters

We’ve all been there – you score the perfect parking spot, but then don’t have enough coins to feed the meter. Happily, that problem is now in the past thanks to the new wireless meters being installed in the downtown area.

These new and improved meters are the wave of the future and we’re delighted to add them in Royal Oak. No coin? No problem! You can now use your credit card to pay the $1 per hour parking fee -- and in the future, you’ll even be able to use your cell phone.

I'm really impressed with the additional flexibility these new meters offer. And I’m not alone – within minutes of them being installed in the original test area people were already using their credit cards instead of coins.

The new meters will be installed by the end of September at all on-street spots from Lincoln Avenue to 11 Mile Road, Troy Street to Lafayette Avenue. As Public Service Director Greg Rassel said, "Hopefully, the use of multiple payment options will make the parking system more user friendly."

The Downtown Development Authority (DDA) spearheaded this project as part of the ongoing downtown parking project, and the change was approved by the City Commission. Besides making parking payment easier, the wireless meters have many other benefits, including the ability to change parking rates remotely, providing instant notification of damage, and supplying real-time usage counts.

The meters are easy to use – click here for a quick demonstration courtesy of the manufacturer, IPS.

Now, if we could only make more parking spaces magically appear. . .