Balancing Act

© Laura Adams, 2012 for ManchesterTownship.org 


"There is a difficult leap between talking about balancing the budget and actually doing it." ~ Kevin Brady


Over the past several months there has been a lot of discussion in the township board and planning commission meetings about Manchester Township's projected operating budget deficit for the 2012-13 fiscal year.  By all accounts, our officials agree that the projected deficit lies somewhere around $150,000.  It's a significant shortfall which has garnered the concern and attention of area residents.  In the May township board meeting, current township supervisor Ron Mann invited residents to participate in the budget process and give input and feedback on where residents felt additional cuts could be made, and how residents could contribute to the process in a positive manner.  Unfortunately, the budget information provided to the public was an incredibly generic and rudimentary budget, with no detailed line information, and thus, no possible way for residents with significant backgrounds in accounting and finance to provide free expert assistance to the township in managing our ongoing budget deficit.  (You can view the provided document here. )  Sadly, when some residents requested more detailed information regarding the township's budget, Mann proclaimed that they "wouldn't understand it" (despite some profound professional experience in budgeting and accounting), and did not produce the requested information.  To date, detailed budget information has not been provided to the public for the 2011-12 fiscal year, nor the current 2012-13 fiscal year which has been approved by the Manchester Township Board.  Requests were made by e-mail and in writing.

The secrecy surrounding the budget, and the manner with which it's detailed information has been and is being withheld from public consumption, should raise questions with township residents.  Surely, with thousands of residents in the township, there are likely a number of experts who could provide  amazing assistance to the township on a volunteer basis.  Despite what has been stated by officials in public meetings, this assistance, when offered, is not being taken advantage of (which reminds us of our township's web site issue, but that's a different post entirely).

Questions regarding the budget were raised at the recent forum for candidates that was held in Carr Park (see this post), and it seems that even the candidates were having a difficult time reconciling the state of the township's budget.  A major point that many people seem to be confused on is how the township could have, or does have, a balanced budget on paper.  

The answer: it doesn't.  

Not really.  The township board made a move to simply take funds from the township's savings to supplement the anticipated budget deficit to the tune of $140,000 or so.  That, folks, is creative accounting, not balancing a budget - even though technically, it appears balanced.  A truly balanced budget is comprised of expenditures that do not exceed income, and despite Ron Mann's invitations for the public to be involved in this, there's no way for township residents to ascertain if unnecessary expenditures have been eliminated without them being able to see the actual details of the budget.


The community group that manages this web site has been lobbying the township board and the planning commission to embrace a sense of transparent operations with township residents for months, only to be met with excuses and opposition at every step.  The budget is but one of those issues, and none of our officials seem willing to share a detailed budget (or other simple operating documents and information) with our residents.  WHY?  With our available technology, it isn't hard to copy and paste documents to web sites, share a current budget on-line, post meeting minutes, live-stream meetings to the web, post audio clips, video footage, photos, or make even the most minute details available - all via the web.  It's pretty simple, actually.  So we're putting it out there - another public request that our township officials make a current and on-going township budget available for public review on the township's web site, along with our other simple web site improvement requests (which can all be found in the various meeting minutes, good luck getting a copy) , for public review and that long-requested transparency.  Tell your elected officials that you want transparency within our government and want to see exactly what's in our township budget.  You can reach Ron Mann, Township Supervisor, at (734) 428-7090.

Listen to Ron Mann invite residents to participate in the budget process here. 

Concerned Residents Question Township Supervisor Candidates

Despite the sweltering heat, over 50 Manchester residents attended the Candidate's Forum in Carr Park on Tuesday, July 17.  All of the candidates for Manchester Township's elected offices were invited to attend.  Those present included Gene DeRossett and Leslie Kopka, both running for township supervisor, and several candidates for township trustee positions: Jim Schiel, John Seefeld, and Pete Stumpo.  The current township clerk, Ann Becktel, township treasurer, Judith Huber, and trustee Carl Macomber declined to attend for unspecified reasons.  Current trustee, Lyle Widmeyer was unable to attend due to health reasons.

The biggest draw of the evening was the question and answer period for the township supervisor candidates.  Mr. Kopka cited his biggest qualifying strength for this position as his experience on Manchester's Planning Commission, a recently tumultuous appointment that has resulted in local residents filing litigation against the township as a direct result of Mr. Kopka's conduct on that commission.  In contrast, Gene DeRossett presents his vast history of public service, experience in all three branches of government, and extensive network of contacts from serving in and around the Manchester area as a solid background for taking the township into new and positive directions.

Though none of the specifics regarding the challenges of Mr. Kopka's present term on the planning commission were raised as a part of the forum, Kopka referred to them in several of his responses, highlighting the contentious nature that he has fostered between himself and the public at the monthly Planning Commission meetings.

Q: How would you handle conflict resolution on issues that arise, and minimize personal bias as supervisor?

Kopka: "Well, I'm sure that is referring to the Dan Huntsbarger property project.  Uh, that is something that has been ongoing for...since November.  Uh, that is...that really does not go through the township...uh, supervisor's office.  It's handled by the planning commission, and uh, what we have in our zoning ordinances...some of the ordinances are extremely outdated and need to be updated, and that's something that we've been talking about in the planning commission.  Um, the issue is, do you do spot updates, or do a major re-do, re-make of the ordinance, and then are you back to the cost, and it'll take a lot of time to do that, and it'll take a lot of money to do that.  And, uh, with as tight as things are, it's a problem.  We're basically fixing the leaks as they appear.  I mean, that's about all we can do right now."

DeRossett approached the question in a completely different manner, "The question was how do you resolve conflict?  I think the most important thing is that you listen, you gather all the information, and then if you are undecided you do nothing and gather additional information, and you make sure that everyone is heard, and all issues are vented, and that you're able to make good, informed decisions.  It's about listening, and it's about bringing people together to resolve conflicts that you might have."

This set the tone for the remainder of the event, with Kopka stating numerous times, "It's a problem", but presenting no clear-cut platform for addressing issues which were raised, and DeRossett giving examples of how he plans on approaching the issues, will encourage residents to re-claim an active role in township government, and will use his previous public service experience to benefit the community.  For an informal event with a casual debate, one would expect that the candidates would be in tune with the issues that concern residents the most.  Kopka left residents wondering exactly which meetings he's been present at, let alone acted as chair on, while DeRossett seemed determined to insure that he understands the concerns and where they stem from.

Listen to the event in it's entirety here.