Bloomfield Township Board of Trustees Meeting on January 12, 2026

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1. 0:00

   Welcome to the Bloomfield Township Board of Trustees meeting for Monday, January the 12th, 2026. Happy New Year, everybody out there listening and our full audience tonight. Please stand for the Pledge of Allegiance. I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands, one nation, under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. Thank you and welcome. Looks like we have a nice crowd tonight. Thank you for joining us. Tonight we offer public comment as item number one. If you're here to make a comment on any issue within the township, you can come up to the podium to my right, your left, and we'll give you three minutes. I'm looking around the room. I don't see any takers, so we'll close public comment and move to consider the consent agenda. Is there a motion to approve the consent agenda? I will have the payroll and vouchers I would like removed. Okay. And John, during the last meeting, said we should do the employment agreements as separate items. Because I had asked if we could do it as a consent decree. He said he'd prefer that we do them as individual items. Okay. I think that was referring to the labor agreements. Yeah. You're talking about the employment agreements for the police officers? For the village police officers, right? That's a non-union. Yeah, that's a non-union. Yeah. It's still an employment contract. I'd like to... keep the same standard okay when we just received him back and here a support support all in favor say aye aye any opposed okay passes seven to nothing thank you all right item number three consider resolution to establish salary benefits for the supervisor presented by clerk Martin Brooke okay so I have a few notes I mean this is an important topic to be discussed so I want to lay out some thinking the treasurer show stack a supervisor McCready myself spent some time working on these and you can see the proposed resolution in the packet but you know it's quick quick to note you know over the past months the township has worked on implementing a recent compensation study to make us competitive in our wage and benefit structure this effort was led by township treasurer show stack and key staff but but of course collective bargain agreements are a team effort nearly every employee in the township was

2. 1:15

   I think that was referring to the labor agreements. Yeah. You're talking about the employment agreements for the police officers? For the village police officers, right? That's a non-union. Yeah, that's a non-union. Yeah. It's still an employment contract. I'd like to... keep the same standard okay when we just received him back and here a support support all in favor say aye aye any opposed okay passes seven to nothing thank you all right item number three consider resolution to establish salary benefits for the supervisor presented by clerk Martin Brooke okay so I have a few notes I mean this is an important topic to be discussed so I want to lay out some thinking the treasurer show stack a supervisor McCready myself spent some time working on these and you can see the proposed resolution in the packet but you know it's quick quick to note you know over the past months the township has worked on implementing a recent compensation study to make us competitive in our wage and benefit structure this effort was led by township treasurer show stack and key staff but but of course collective bargain agreements are a team effort nearly every employee in the township was covered by Union each contract passed with very wide margins so now the elected officials we turn to ourselves and have and made some and have some choices to make so first I want to note that state statute directs that our compensation set by the board of trustees or set by a compensation commission next to zero townships actually utilize a compensation commission Bloomfield for instance never has We worked to create a proposal that was in line with the compensation study, determined in an objective fashion and conservative. So let me talk briefly about each of those things. Each of the numbers presented are within a few hundred dollars of the independent compensation study that was conducted in 2024. In the past, item two, in the past our pay was tied to increases we negotiated with department heads. Some have criticized this approach. Therefore, we looked to a new measure that was reasonable and independent. We settled upon the inflation rate multiplier. This is a rate determined by the state and used by townships and cities to set tax rates, millages.

3. 2:30

   bargain agreements are a team effort nearly every employee in the township was covered by Union each contract passed with very wide margins so now the elected officials we turn to ourselves and have and made some and have some choices to make so first I want to note that state statute directs that our compensation set by the board of trustees or set by a compensation commission next to zero townships actually utilize a compensation commission Bloomfield for instance never has We worked to create a proposal that was in line with the compensation study, determined in an objective fashion and conservative. So let me talk briefly about each of those things. Each of the numbers presented are within a few hundred dollars of the independent compensation study that was conducted in 2024. In the past, item two, in the past our pay was tied to increases we negotiated with department heads. Some have criticized this approach. Therefore, we looked to a new measure that was reasonable and independent. We settled upon the inflation rate multiplier. This is a rate determined by the state and used by townships and cities to set tax rates, millages. So we propose increases set to the amount of the inflation determined by the state and the inflation rate multiplier, which this year is a 2.7% raise. And by the way, that inflation rate multiplier is always capped at 5%, can never go higher than 5%. It could be much, much lower. And historically, it has been much, much lower. And by the way, this is in line also with the general union raises and, in fact, much smaller than many, who needed to be adjusted for competitive compensation reasons. We also expanded the scope of benefits to which we are not entitled. So effective in 2020, after decades of providing… vehicles, the elected officials decided no longer to provide themselves a vehicle and did not take the $8,000 car allowance provided to department heads. This remains the same in these proposals. No vehicle, no car allowance. In my case, for instance, this means for the past five years, I've forgone $40,000 in what otherwise, you know, compensation that my predecessor was receiving.

4. 3:45

   This is a rate determined by the state and used by townships and cities to set tax rates, millages. So we propose increases set to the amount of the inflation determined by the state and the inflation rate multiplier, which this year is a 2.7% raise. And by the way, that inflation rate multiplier is always capped at 5%, can never go higher than 5%. It could be much, much lower. And historically, it has been much, much lower. And by the way, this is in line also with the general union raises and, in fact, much smaller than many, who needed to be adjusted for competitive compensation reasons. We also expanded the scope of benefits to which we are not entitled. So effective in 2020, after decades of providing… vehicles, the elected officials decided no longer to provide themselves a vehicle and did not take the $8,000 car allowance provided to department heads. This remains the same in these proposals. No vehicle, no car allowance. In my case, for instance, this means for the past five years, I've forgone $40,000 in what otherwise, you know, compensation that my predecessor was receiving. Also, we decided that elected officials should not get longevity and should not get retention bonuses. Our predecessors received these payments. As of this resolution, elected officials will not. I am told, we have, all told, we have constrained benefits in the way it's just, create an independent factor for annual raises. Kept our salaries in line with an independent compensation study. And for these reasons, I recommend the adoption of the compensation resolutions. And there are three of them. The first one is to, I move, and then we can discuss, I'm sure, to adopt the resolution to establish the salary and benefits for the supervisor. Yes, sir. Quick question. So the total cop package went down for everyone? Yes. Yes. The compensation went up in line with the independent compensation study. The benefits went down in relationship to the prior standard, which was to attach it to department heads. Correct. And the question I'm asking with the 2.7% increase, is that offset by the $8,000 car

5. 5:00

   Also, we decided that elected officials should not get longevity and should not get retention bonuses. Our predecessors received these payments. As of this resolution, elected officials will not. I am told, we have, all told, we have constrained benefits in the way it's just, create an independent factor for annual raises. Kept our salaries in line with an independent compensation study. And for these reasons, I recommend the adoption of the compensation resolutions. And there are three of them. The first one is to, I move, and then we can discuss, I'm sure, to adopt the resolution to establish the salary and benefits for the supervisor. Yes, sir. Quick question. So the total cop package went down for everyone? Yes. Yes. The compensation went up in line with the independent compensation study. The benefits went down in relationship to the prior standard, which was to attach it to department heads. Correct. And the question I'm asking with the 2.7% increase, is that offset by the $8,000 car allowance? No, I don't, I'd have to do the math for sure, but 2.7% of, say, 150 would be, it's probably a little lower than the car allowance, so the car allowance is a bigger reduction than the 2.7% increase. Yeah, the increase in, 2.7% increase is less than the reduction in the car allowance, so the overall net is less. Yeah. Okay. And none of our elected officials that are currently here did receive a car allowance and has never received a car. Okay. Yeah. We can come in and take a fleet vehicle if we're going somewhere. That's what some of us, some will do. I used one today. For like overnight or when you're doing clerk duties? Well, I had to go to Lansing one day, I went and got a fleet vehicle, drove it to Lansing and back. Which makes sense. Okay. Yeah. And I wanted the residents to hear that the overall compensation package as the dollar value was going down. I thought it would be. Right. And in the Meg study, if you look at the Meg study, some of the salaries were much higher recommended than where we're going.

6. 6:15

   And the question I'm asking with the 2.7% increase, is that offset by the $8,000 car allowance? No, I don't, I'd have to do the math for sure, but 2.7% of, say, 150 would be, it's probably a little lower than the car allowance, so the car allowance is a bigger reduction than the 2.7% increase. Yeah, the increase in, 2.7% increase is less than the reduction in the car allowance, so the overall net is less. Yeah. Okay. And none of our elected officials that are currently here did receive a car allowance and has never received a car. Okay. Yeah. We can come in and take a fleet vehicle if we're going somewhere. That's what some of us, some will do. I used one today. For like overnight or when you're doing clerk duties? Well, I had to go to Lansing one day, I went and got a fleet vehicle, drove it to Lansing and back. Which makes sense. Okay. Yeah. And I wanted the residents to hear that the overall compensation package as the dollar value was going down. I thought it would be. Right. And in the Meg study, if you look at the Meg study, some of the salaries were much higher recommended than where we're going. like $20,000 to $60,000, $50,000 more, and that's just way too much. Even though if you look around at surrounding communities, we're still at or below some of our peer groups here. And in those other communities, they either get a car or a car allowance. So I think we're being conservative, but yet competitive. Martin, can you remind us what the supervisor's salary currently is? Like how much of an increase is that? I don't have that number right in front of me. I think going on April 1st would be about a 7.4% increase. And there hasn't been an increase in the supervisor position in two years. I thought they were getting increases when, oh, because you passed on it last year. Yeah, I just came in, and I had to study the MAG study and do comparisons. And I think it was better to get the employees taken care of before we did anything further for the executive offices. I just have a couple comments. When you guys presented this to us, I did a bunch of research on some of our competitors and our peer groups in municipalities around. And it seems that our benefits package that we offer to our executive group here

7. 7:30

   like $20,000 to $60,000, $50,000 more, and that's just way too much. Even though if you look around at surrounding communities, we're still at or below some of our peer groups here. And in those other communities, they either get a car or a car allowance. So I think we're being conservative, but yet competitive. Martin, can you remind us what the supervisor's salary currently is? Like how much of an increase is that? I don't have that number right in front of me. I think going on April 1st would be about a 7.4% increase. And there hasn't been an increase in the supervisor position in two years. I thought they were getting increases when, oh, because you passed on it last year. Yeah, I just came in, and I had to study the MAG study and do comparisons. And I think it was better to get the employees taken care of before we did anything further for the executive offices. I just have a couple comments. When you guys presented this to us, I did a bunch of research on some of our competitors and our peer groups in municipalities around. And it seems that our benefits package that we offer to our executive group here is actually lower than a lot of our peers. When you look at some of the other cities, what they offer for their city managers or their department heads, you guys have foregone a lot of those benefits. So I think this is... very modest ask and very conservative and it continues to show that you guys have continued to put forth the residents first and our labor first more than taking care of yourselves so I am very in favor of this and I think this is a very reasonable ask for you guys and I'm also supportive of the request certainly compared to some of the surrounding communities who have city managers or superintendents along with an executive which are significantly higher than our supervisor treasurer and clerk would be making so I think it's very fair it's conservative and certainly as stewards of the taxpayers money I think we are doing that but at the same time ensuring that we get we're putting in place salaries that will attract good people because I must say that most of the people in these positions could be making significantly more money in the

8. 8:45

   And it seems that our benefits package that we offer to our executive group here is actually lower than a lot of our peers. When you look at some of the other cities, what they offer for their city managers or their department heads, you guys have foregone a lot of those benefits. So I think this is... very modest ask and very conservative and it continues to show that you guys have continued to put forth the residents first and our labor first more than taking care of yourselves so I am very in favor of this and I think this is a very reasonable ask for you guys and I'm also supportive of the request certainly compared to some of the surrounding communities who have city managers or superintendents along with an executive which are significantly higher than our supervisor treasurer and clerk would be making so I think it's very fair it's conservative and certainly as stewards of the taxpayers money I think we are doing that but at the same time ensuring that we get we're putting in place salaries that will attract good people because I must say that most of the people in these positions could be making significantly more money in the private sector there's no question about it two to three times more conservatively so I think that it's a good balance there's no other comments we'll take a motion well I I value you guys the three and appreciate and want you guys to stay I just have you and I talked to a couple of the board members privately about it, just have concerns about the 5% that that's higher than what any of the unions would get and that that might cause controversy, resentment. It also, at the higher salary levels, 5% adds up and compounds pretty quickly. If we hit that, in terms of budgeting, in terms of our future, personally, I'm very concerned about the state of our country right now and that we could have a recession. We, unfortunately, saw one of those and, you know, even have things like they're out ready. The layoffs are up and unemployment's up and housing values could fall

9. 10:00

   the people in these positions could be making significantly more money in the private sector there's no question about it two to three times more conservatively so I think that it's a good balance there's no other comments we'll take a motion well I I value you guys the three and appreciate and want you guys to stay I just have you and I talked to a couple of the board members privately about it, just have concerns about the 5% that that's higher than what any of the unions would get and that that might cause controversy, resentment. It also, at the higher salary levels, 5% adds up and compounds pretty quickly. If we hit that, in terms of budgeting, in terms of our future, personally, I'm very concerned about the state of our country right now and that we could have a recession. We, unfortunately, saw one of those and, you know, even have things like they're out ready. The layoffs are up and unemployment's up and housing values could fall and then that is our tax base. And the last time housing values fell so hard, you know, the residents spoke up and wanted tax relief, not tax increase at the rate of inflation. So I just have concerns. It's nothing personal at all. But as a fiduciary for the residents, personally, I didn't vote for a raise for the trustees either. You guys know, I'm not comfortable with it. So I have reservations. I'm very worried about the state of our whole country right now and the things that happened even just today with the Federal Reserve. and it's worrisome so that's where I'm at great thank you just for just for a tidbit of additional information since the inflation rate multiplier has been calculated by the state only twice since 1995 has it reached 5% right so most years it's very low so could it be 5% yes but it's a rare very rare occurrence and in this year this year in fact it's just 2.7% well and I appreciate

10. 11:15

    The layoffs are up and unemployment's up and housing values could fall and then that is our tax base. And the last time housing values fell so hard, you know, the residents spoke up and wanted tax relief, not tax increase at the rate of inflation. So I just have concerns. It's nothing personal at all. But as a fiduciary for the residents, personally, I didn't vote for a raise for the trustees either. You guys know, I'm not comfortable with it. So I have reservations. I'm very worried about the state of our whole country right now and the things that happened even just today with the Federal Reserve. and it's worrisome so that's where I'm at great thank you just for just for a tidbit of additional information since the inflation rate multiplier has been calculated by the state only twice since 1995 has it reached 5% right so most years it's very low so could it be 5% yes but it's a rare very rare occurrence and in this year this year in fact it's just 2.7% well and I appreciate everything you guys shared with me and I I value our treasurer he and I talked about some things and I feel we're in good hands and I also want to keep you guys I wouldn't want any resentment over you know the not from you guys hopefully you know I mean like you know with election and that you know it it's it's just I'm not quite as comfortable with it okay I'd like to make a motion that we approve as submitted support support all in favor say aye aye aye any opposed no okay passes six to one item number four consider resolution to establish salary and benefits for the clerk presented by Martin Brooke so it's just exactly what I said previously concerning the effort we made in coming up with this and the resolution presents the same same format as the as the supervisor I can move forward unless there's additional discussion. Support? Support. All in favor say aye. Aye. Any opposed? No. Six to one. Thank you. Item number five, consider resolution to establish salary and benefits for a treasurer presented

11. 12:30

    and in this year this year in fact it's just 2.7% well and I appreciate everything you guys shared with me and I I value our treasurer he and I talked about some things and I feel we're in good hands and I also want to keep you guys I wouldn't want any resentment over you know the not from you guys hopefully you know I mean like you know with election and that you know it it's it's just I'm not quite as comfortable with it okay I'd like to make a motion that we approve as submitted support support all in favor say aye aye aye any opposed no okay passes six to one item number four consider resolution to establish salary and benefits for the clerk presented by Martin Brooke so it's just exactly what I said previously concerning the effort we made in coming up with this and the resolution presents the same same format as the as the supervisor I can move forward unless there's additional discussion. Support? Support. All in favor say aye. Aye. Any opposed? No. Six to one. Thank you. Item number five, consider resolution to establish salary and benefits for a treasurer presented by Clerk Martin Brook. Again, same background and information concerning this resolution as previously presented, except for the salary is a little lower than the supervisor and it's the same as the clerk. Motion that we approve as presented. Support? Support. All in favor say aye. Aye. Any opposed? No. Passes six to one. Thank you. Okay. Item number five, we'll call it, approve the updated employment agreements with the Bloomfield Village police officers. Martin? Okay. So in line with the collective bargaining agreements, there are police officers who are not in a union whose compensation is set in coordination with Bloomfield Village. They also pay for these costs and, however, they are formally employees of the township. So these contracts have been discussed with the officers and have been approved by the village council and signed by the officer and the village manager. And I have five of them. There's five officers in the village.

12. 13:45

    Item number five, consider resolution to establish salary and benefits for a treasurer presented by Clerk Martin Brook. Again, same background and information concerning this resolution as previously presented, except for the salary is a little lower than the supervisor and it's the same as the clerk. Motion that we approve as presented. Support? Support. All in favor say aye. Aye. Any opposed? No. Passes six to one. Thank you. Okay. Item number five, we'll call it, approve the updated employment agreements with the Bloomfield Village police officers. Martin? Okay. So in line with the collective bargaining agreements, there are police officers who are not in a union whose compensation is set in coordination with Bloomfield Village. They also pay for these costs and, however, they are formally employees of the township. So these contracts have been discussed with the officers and have been approved by the village council and signed by the officer and the village manager. And I have five of them. There's five officers in the village. carries its own millage that pays for these officers and um they kind of negotiate and follow the contracts that we have negotiated right so that uh they're the the same version i have here in front of me which is this execution version was provided in the packet right um so i make a motion that we approve the contract uh for officer stephen cook support do you want to go through each individual contract or do you want to do them all at this all together because they're all the same they are but i think the request was to do one at a time let's say consistent what do you want it yeah okay so john so there are motion for steve cook's contract support there was martin made the martin made the motion i supported support all in favor say aye aye okay passes and that would be for cook okay got it that was passed seven to nothing okay the next one is right um oh so the next one is um for uh officer brian crane crane correct c-r-a-n-e yep okay i move we approve the contract support all in favor say aye aye any opposed that's seven nothing next one martin uh this is for the employment agreement with officer paul schwab schwab okay i move we approve the contract as presented support support all in favor say aye aye

13. 15:00

    carries its own millage that pays for these officers and um they kind of negotiate and follow the contracts that we have negotiated right so that uh they're the the same version i have here in front of me which is this execution version was provided in the packet right um so i make a motion that we approve the contract uh for officer stephen cook support do you want to go through each individual contract or do you want to do them all at this all together because they're all the same they are but i think the request was to do one at a time let's say consistent what do you want it yeah okay so john so there are motion for steve cook's contract support there was martin made the martin made the motion i supported support all in favor say aye aye okay passes and that would be for cook okay got it that was passed seven to nothing okay the next one is right um oh so the next one is um for uh officer brian crane crane correct c-r-a-n-e yep okay i move we approve the contract support all in favor say aye aye any opposed that's seven nothing next one martin uh this is for the employment agreement with officer paul schwab schwab okay i move we approve the contract as presented support support all in favor say aye aye passes seven nothing next one martin this is for the employment agreement with officer thomas orlowski uh-huh i move that we approve the contract as presented support all in favor say aye Any opposed? Passes 7-0. Next contract, Martin. This is for the imploring contract for Officer John Schlaubach. I move that we approve the contract as presented. Support? Support. All in favor say aye. Aye. Passes 7-0. Okay, thank you. Okay, item number, it would be 5G, we'll call it, payroll and vouchers for January 12, 2026. Mark? Yes, my no vote stands. And for public safety, we already know that from the June 30th report that their expenses have exceeded their starting fund balance and the revenue that they've collected. The board should know where the cash is coming from to pay those bills. The debits have been recorded. The credits should also be recorded. And we don't see the transfers that we would normally see in an audit from the general fund

14. 16:15

    schwab okay i move we approve the contract as presented support support all in favor say aye aye passes seven nothing next one martin this is for the employment agreement with officer thomas orlowski uh-huh i move that we approve the contract as presented support all in favor say aye Any opposed? Passes 7-0. Next contract, Martin. This is for the imploring contract for Officer John Schlaubach. I move that we approve the contract as presented. Support? Support. All in favor say aye. Aye. Passes 7-0. Okay, thank you. Okay, item number, it would be 5G, we'll call it, payroll and vouchers for January 12, 2026. Mark? Yes, my no vote stands. And for public safety, we already know that from the June 30th report that their expenses have exceeded their starting fund balance and the revenue that they've collected. The board should know where the cash is coming from to pay those bills. The debits have been recorded. The credits should also be recorded. And we don't see the transfers that we would normally see in an audit from the general fund into public safety. And even if it is a loan, that means the cash has to go into the public safety account and then from public safety back to the general fund. And that transfer back has never been approved in the budget. So, and that's why I'm voting now. Okay. And that paperwork that you had sent to us, I think we... Thank you. Jason and Michael have been working on it, so probably in our next meeting we can run through that and help clear up some of those misconceptions. That would be great. Okay. A motion to approve item 5G. So moved. Support. All in favor say aye. Aye. Any opposed? Nay. Six to one. Thank you. And finally, we have moved for adjourned. Support. Support. All in favor say aye. Aye. We are adjourned. Thank you, everybody. Happy New Year. Never end. There was a little length of audience that first went through, wouldn't it beения and Anything there was? Do you want to know? Are you ready?