No Compromise, Still, on OPC Budget

One month into 2012, the is still operating without an approved budget for the year — and without any real forecast for a compromise.

The budget for the organization that serves seniors in Rochester, Rochester Hills and Oakland Township has yet to be approved by the city of Rochester. According to the interlocal agreement that governs the OPC, all three member communities must approve the organization's budget each year.

Rochester Hills and Oakland Township approved the budget in the fall. Citing concerns about increases in payments and benefits, Rochester City Council did not approve the budget and instead for the OPC Governing Board to consider.

At the board's meeting Thursday afternoon, that alternate budget plan was not approved.

Now what?

At a , Rochester City Attorney Jeffrey Kragt noted that if the OPC opened in January without the approved budget then it would be in violation of state law and could be in danger of closing. Rochester leaders have said they have no intention of filing a lawsuit — nor do they want the senior center to close.

So what next?

Michael Webber, vice president of the Rochester Hills City Council and a member of the OPC Governing Board, said a compromise is still possible. He said a finance committee of the board is looking at part of the budget and will report back in the near future. He also said he has extended an invitation to Rochester City Council on behalf of the Rochester Hills Sister City Committee to meet and discuss the OPC budget, the interlocal agreement and other issues that the cities are facing together.

"In a time when the governor is talking about municipalities working together, we're really in a unique situation," Webber said. "The Rochester area has been a model of working together for some time now.

"Nobody wants to see that get derailed."

Rochester City Councilmember Cathy Daldin had a different prediction than Webber. 

"The have no intention of compromising," she said.

"Just because we're the small community, we don't have a say. It's a dictatorship. In our own country, every voice should count."

Memo

At the Thursday meeting, Webber presented governing board members with a memo that he had drafted with the help of Keith Sawdon, the finance director for the city of Rochester Hills.

Sawdon, he said, has worked closely with the OPC budget that was presented to the three communities.

The memo, , outlines each area of the budget that Rochester City Council has been concerned with, including the proposed line items from salary, benefits and pensions. The memo concludes that the correct number to use when studying the budget expenditures related to salaries and benefits for the 2012 budget is about $65,000 — not $166,422, as the Rochester City Council has stated.

Daldin, who attended the meeting, said she was willing to look at the memo. But she said Webber showed disrespect for some of the board members in the way he presented the memo.

Webber said the memo was created for board members to have a better understanding of the numbers.

The seniors

The focus of the budget talks, Webber said, should not be on the disagreement between municipalities but on the seniors and the OPC programs from which they benefit.

"My concern isn't as much with the card games in the lounge, but a closure of the OPC would affect those homebound seniors who rely on Meals on Wheels and the seniors who rely on the OPC transportation to get to their doctors' appointments," he said.

Daldin agreed.

"Those are the true services that a government entity should provide," she said. "All of the other programs are frosting on the cake."