Troy: Say It Ain't So!

The city of Troy is going through a major overhaul trying to figure out how to keep many community buildings open to the public. Due to the lack of property tax revenue, a projected 10.5 million dollar loss over the next five years may cause the city to close its libraries, museums, and community centers. City Manager John Szerlag said the city would have to cut 67 police department jobs to keep open the libraries, museums, and community centers, stating that Troy “can no longer economically sustain our organization”. The city leaders met on September 28^th to discuss the city’s options for dealing with this dilemma and three proposals have emerged:

1. The city could close the library, community center, museum, and nature center. Under this plan, the city would also cut back on police and fire by 25% and privatize some departments.

2. The library, community center and museum would stay open on a limited basis, but the city would lay off other employees, including police.

3. City Manager John Szerlag proposed a two million dollar operating levy that would keep the public safety services intact and fund the library, nature center and museum. That would equate to about $103 on the average residential tax bill, according to the Detroit News.

Whatever plan the city of Troy decides to follow in this budgetary crisis, I hope it includes finding a way to keep the public library and other services open to the community.