Cuts to the work force, services and capital improvements
By Barb Pert Templeton
It’s been a hectic year for outgoing Marine City Manager Michael Reaves who hosted townhalls and public hearings to explain the dire situation the city’s finances were in as budget season loomed.
The general fund was going to fall short by some $650,000 and Reaves had proposed a resolution to create a special assessment district that would access 5 mils from taxpayers and provide $706,000 in funding to right the city’s fiscal ship.
In the end, a successful petition from residents who wanted the plan put to a vote of the people seemed to prompt officials to reject the special assessment district resolution and force the administration to find a way to balance the budget.
A May 21 commission meeting had Reaves offering officials that proposed balanced budget with an estimated surplus of $37,478.00 and severe cuts across all city departments.
Marine City Manager Michael Reaves, who recently resigned, attended his final city commission meeting on May 21, 2026. He wanted the minutes to reflect that he did not use the word “candidly” one time during the meeting, despite it being a frequent flyer during many of his reports to the commission over the last 18 months.
A majority of the city commission adopted the budget at last week’s meeting in a 4 to 3 vote. A motion to approve the budget came from Commissioner Jacob Bryson and was seconded by Commissioner Sean O’Brien. Mayor Jennifer Vandenbossche and Commissioner Trish May also voted in favor of the motion. Mayor Pro Tem Lisa Hendrick and Commissioners Rita Roehrig and William Klaassen voted against it.
In addition to the major cuts in the budget Reaves decided to resign effective June 4 and Marine City Police Chief James Heaslip retired. Former City Manager Scott Adkins, who’s been working as a part-time consultant for the city, agreed to replace Reaves via a part-time 90-day at-will contract.
In a memo to commissioners in the May 21 meeting packet, Reaves laid out the fiscal budget for the coming year in detail. The packet included nearly 100 pages on the proposed budget with line items and detailed paragraphs about cuts.
“I am presenting a balanced budget – with an estimated surplus of $37,478.00 The presentation of this budget is built upon significant cuts to all departments, including work force reductions, positions changed from full time to part-time, elimination of services, etc,” Reaves wrote.
Here are a few significant highlights on what’s being trimmed:
Marine City Commissioner Rita Roehrig said she had her doubts about the budget, more cuts could have been made and she voted against it.
· Staff training, lodging, conference attendance and other supply line accounts have all been significantly cut or reduced, other than those that are mandated.
· NO Capitol Improvement Project needs for any department are considered in the general fund portion of this budget. This does not mean those needs go away – quite candidly our ability now to adequately plan forward has been reduced or eliminated.
“We are taking a step backwards in order to try and right-size our delivery of services to the level of resources we can expect going forward,” Reaves said.
· Additionally, the proposed Budget Wage Schedule for 2026/2027 is flat; meaning there are no scheduled pay increases at this time in the budget for all city employees, with the exception of the Clerk, ($2,500) & Treasurer, ($1,000) who both have in their original contractual agreements, increases tied to them receiving certifications in their respective employment areas.
· Police Department: There are funds budgeted so as to allow for a part-time police chief going forward, funding for two part-time officers, the return of the administrative full-time in the police department and the ability to try and complete the MACP accreditation process. It will remain a 24/7 coverage department.
· The DPW members are a collective bargaining union (Teamsters local #214) and staff reduction must follow the contract. I left two (2) seasonal lawn crew part-time employees to help the remaining DPW employees try and keep up the maintenance needed across the beach, all city parks, the cemetery, and other city properties.
“At this time, I have cut all seasonal – part-time employees assigned as beach attendants, and the part-time employee that waters plants from this proposed budget,” Reaves said.
· Treasurer Department: Part-time treasurer assistant eliminated.
· Clerk’s Department: Deputy clerk is eliminated.
· The City Attorney agreed to allow for a lower use of his hourly timed charge to the city.
· Inspections / Code Enforcement – The majority of this budget line includes our budgeting for the building official and all the inspectors. The current agreement with the building official and all the associated inspectors receiving hourly pay and 75% of all permit fees is a significant concern. A decision by the BOC will need to be made attempting to re-negotiate the inspector agreement or looking to replace this agreement with a part-time bldg. official / code enforcement person.
· Removed the Code Enforcement position.
· Additional Changes: There will be no more late Thursday coverage. At times city hall or other departments will have to close early / lunch hours, etc. The availability of employees to cover is dwindling -so services must be cut. In cases of sickness, vacations, etc. -there will be impacts.
· Custodial Services: At this time, we do not have anyone to do the custodial work for all city facilities. That was handled appropriately by city staff at a cost savings. There will be a need to re-bid this service need out to a private company and find the appropriate funding for same.
As to good budget processes going forward Reaves recommends the following:
· A good rule of thumb would be for a minimum of 6-8 months of needed operating revenue. We currently have approximately less than $1M of operating capital in our emergency funding. All of these funds are in tiered investments.
“Again, I would very strongly recommend that these funds are not utilized or considered,” Reaves advised. “These funds are your only capability to running the city in a catastrophic situation and allow a minimal amount of time prior to insolvency.”
To see the full nearly 100 page proposed 2026-2027 Fiscal Year Budget, including detailed line by line items, visit the city website at marinecity.gov
