WHITEHALL — After a lengthy discussion about the 2025-26 fiscal year budget, the Whitehall city council approved it during Tuesday evening's regular meeting, with a few amendments.
The approval was by a 6-0 vote, with council member Debi Hillebrand absent.
The budget is a bit smaller than last year, as city manager Scott Huebler recommended as a consequence of, in part, last fall's major storm that damaged a culvert on Zellar Road and forced expensive repairs.
The largest change to the budget, by expenditure, was a reduction in the amount of money the Local Development Finance Authority would be permitted to allot to the Playhouse at White Lake for marketing support. Council members said the budget called for a $90,000 outlay for this expense, but after discussion, the council approved by a 6-0 vote a reduction to $40,000 - just slightly more, according to discussion, than the amount the Playhouse was expected to be in the black had the $90,000 allotment been approved.
The Playhouse and its financial situation - the city-owned property operated at a projected deficit most of this fiscal year - has been a consistent topic of conversation among the council during the last several months, and the formation of a sustainability committee that met several times this winter and spring did not quiet the discussion. The committee recommended a $50,000 commitment from the city to cover some building expenses; the LDFA has since approved that amount be provided to the Playhouse for the 2024-25 budget in the form of marketing support, though during Tuesday's meeting the council tabled approval of that amendment at the request of Huebler, so the city can clarify some financial numbers before that change is made.
Council members Scott Brown and Tom Ziemer, the latter of whom was on the Playhouse committee, were critical of the $90,000 figure laid out in the LDFA budget, and Steve Sikkenga joined them in supporting a lower amount. Sikkenga said he feels the lower amount is sufficient to address the Playhouse's needs and would like to see other measures considered if its financial issues can't be solved after two more years of subsidies. Another council member, Tanya Cabala, seemed to agree, reiterating a statement she made at an April meeting about wanting to see a specific plan from the Playhouse going forward.
Three other, smaller amendments were proposed by Cabala and accepted by the council as part of the budget. The additions included $1,000 in funding to the proposed community garden being led by local resident Amber Marks and her partners at the Servant Musician nonprofit. Marks and Servant Musician executive director Erin Wehr shared an update on their project, including a website that's been added to the Servant Musician page and meetings they've recently had with the city's Department of Public Works, others who have worked on garden projects, and potential volunteers.
The council also approved a $1,000 allocation to support adding a Whitehall High School student representative to council meetings. The support will take the form of scholarship money for up to two participants. Cabala said she felt the addition of a student representative will encourage civic engagement and allow the council a chance to get feedback from younger constituents.
A third amendment will allocate $1,000 to pay a grant writer $50 per hour, on contract, to help the city secure grants, with Cabala noting the environment to secure grants has become more competitive. Unlike the other two amendments, which passed 6-0, this one was approved 5-1 with Sikkenga dissenting.
There was also discussion about allocating money to the RESTART program, a statewide initiative that provides energy efficiency consultation to qualified bodies, but the council eventually determined that seeking out environmental grant money could also be part of a potential grant writer's focus.
The Flock security cameras, for which the city has been invited to participate in a 60-day free trial, also generated discussion. The cameras capture images of vehicles that pass them to be placed into a database that can then be used to note where vehicles go, if they go to other areas where the cameras are in place. The council previously tabled a resolution to allow Flock to install the cameras for the trial and will likely consider it at the next meeting June 10.
Sikkenga said he was against the cameras' use, noting a citizen, Ian Martin, sent a letter outlining the case against them. Another citizen, Steve Ogden, delivered an impassioned case against the use of the cameras during public comment, sarcastically referring to the "pinky promise" the private company makes that it will not misuse the data it collects before listing several other private companies that have been found to be doing just that over the years.
Also as part of the budget approval, the council set this year's city millage rate at 15.77 mills (the city was legally permitted to levy as much as 18.946 mills). Mayor Steven Salter said the millage rate has not gone above that number over the last 10 years. The council also approved the sewer rate at $6.47 per 1,000 gallons, unchanged from a year ago, and the water rate of $3.12 per 1,000 gallons. The latter is up 10% from 2024-25, with the increase coming due to costs associated with the statewide mandate to replace all lead and copper piping in city water supplies. Huebler said Whitehall has no history of contaminated water, but the state enacted the requirements following the Flint water crisis of the 2010s.
