Several street projects planned; water, sewer variable rates projected to go up
By Robert Tomlinson
News Director
THREE RIVERS — City leaders in Three Rivers were presented Tuesday, May 12 with a first look at the budget for Fiscal Year 2027, a presentation that received effusive praise from Mayor Angel Johnston and other commissioners.
“Thank you so much for an incredible amount of hard work. I am proud that this is what my city just put forward,” Johnston said. “Of course I don’t like every dollar, I’m never going to, but this has been put together in an understandable way that when a resident calls and asks about whatever, I can tell them, and we can show exactly where our money is going.”
The highly-anticipated budget calls for a total budget of $30.87 million, a 3 percent increase over Fiscal Year 2026, with a use of $4.87 million in fund balance to reflect over $7.1 million in planned capital investments over the course of the year.
The budget also comes with a 5.5 percent increase in the commodity/variable rates for water to $2.84 per 100 cubic feet for city residents, and a 1.1 percent increase in the commodity/variable rates for sewer to $3.79 per 100 cubic feet for city residents. There is no change to the flat service charges for water and sewer, which will stay at $40.67 and $61.15 respectively.
The rate increases and why they are the way they are, were presented at Tuesday’s meeting by Bryan Camiller of Plante Moran. Following that presentation, in a Facebook post, Johnston acknowledged the proposed rate increases, saying she doesn’t want to do increases, but “there does not seem to be any alternative.”
Finance Director Bobbi Schoon said the overall budget has a few goals, based on priorities outlined in the city’s master plan: downtown development, housing and neighborhoods, transportation, beautification, and recreation/river access. The budget, she added, was also built to maintain core services, protect the city’s long-term financial stability, invest in infrastructure, avoid unnecessary debt, and prepare for emergencies and future obligations.
“This document reflects a deliberate effort to be responsible, strategic, and forward-looking, while also recognizing the financial pressures facing local governments today,” Schoon said.
The full presentation of the budget preview can be found on the City of Three Rivers website.
Here are some of the major items in this year’s budget, at a glance:
Water, sewer, roads, and other capital projects
For the upcoming fiscal year, the city is planning on $7.178 million in capital improvements. The biggest investments will be in utilities and infrastructure, where $1.19 million is expected to be used for sewer system improvements, $1.33 million is expected to be used for water system improvements, and over $2 million is expected to be used to fix roads and make improvements.
Some of the water/sewer fund capital improvements will be used as part of the design phase of the upcoming 2028-29 MDOT project to reconstruct Michigan Avenue and Main Street. The city is working with MDOT to do sewer replacements and water main replacements during the project, as well as replace any lead service lines in those areas.
Other water fund projects include more lead service line replacements, water meter replacements, replacing water system vehicles, well rehabilitation/maintenance, and water tower improvements. For the sewer fund, projects include work on the Portage River manhole, room replacement at the blower building, new wood for an air bio filter, and ATAD, middle room, and septage receiving work.
For roadwork projects, South Constantine Street from Broadway Street to Millard Street will be worked on out of the major streets fund, as well as an extension of the Scidmore Trail. From local streets, Armitage Street will receive a pavement replacement, while King Street from Erie Street to Douglas Avenue and River Street from South Main to Sixth Street will have work done, as well as other various sealing and microsurfacing projects. From the municipal streets fund, there will be new sidewalk installations and replacement projects, work done for the Orchard Lane subdivision roadway, and reconstruction of Wolf Road.
Other capital projects on the docket include the use of $637,800 for new police and Department of Public Services vehicles, $605,000 for airport improvements, $600,000 for ambulances, $220,000 for library improvements, $100,000 for City Hall renovations, and $95,000 for park trail improvements.
Millage rates lowered
The citywide rates for the operating millage, solid waste millage, city streets/sidewalks millage, ambulance millage, library millage, and Downtown Development Authority millage will be reduced this year, per the Headlee rollback, which lowers millage rates if property values increase more than the rate of inflation.
The operating millage will be set at 11.3464 mills, the solid waste millage will be set at 0.875 mills, the streets/sidewalks millage will be set at 3.6744 mills, the ambulance millage will be set at 1.946 mills, the library millage will be set at 1.6682 mills, and the DDA millage is set at 1.8512 mills.
Goal Funding
Schoon briefly went over the five Master Plan goals and what exactly will be funded to meet those goals.
For downtown development, the key goals were to restore and preserve building facades and support local businesses with events. To that, the budget is funding façade grants, downtown marketing, and events to bring patrons to downtown, mainly through the general fund and the DDA budget.
For housing and neighborhoods, Schoon said the budget funds grants for housing improvements for residents, a site development plan for multi-family residential development, and water system infrastructure and regulatory compliance. The plan highlights also include expanding housing stock, redeveloping “opportunity sites,” and addressing aging housing.
With transportation, Schoon noted the funding for street resurfacing and sidewalk paving, with priorities for trail additions and the city’s sidewalk network.
As for recreation and river access, there is planned to be capital improvements for parks, non-motorized trail funding, and riverfront recreation for amphitheater event funding.
Finally, for local aesthetics, there are priorities for tornado cleanup efforts and streetscape improvements, with funding also available for cleanup events and tree planting.
Other General Fund notes
Elsewhere in the General Fund, of the $8.99 million in expenditures for the year, some of the major expenditures are $2.81 million for police, $792,935 for fire, and $2 million for special projects, which includes an $841,000 transfer from the water fund for use in replacing lead service lines in the city.
In total, just over 44 cents of every dollar from residents goes to public safety, while 22 cents of every dollar goes toward capital investments, 21 cents go to general government, 5 cents go to public works, 4 cents go to culture and recreation, and 4 cents go to other categories.
For police and fire, Schoon noted that some budgetary highlights included bulletproof vests for police, and payment for an aerial ladder truck for the fire department.
Marijuana excise tax revenue usage was also briefly discussed. Schoon said while there aren’t any specifics as to what exactly the money would go toward, she said it would go to one-time investments rather than multi-year items, and in general they would go toward enhancing public safety, technology, and community services.
Schoon also noted the undesignated General Fund balance with and without assigned fund balances. With the assigned fund balances, it is estimated the ending fund balance will be around $2.37 million at the end of the year, equivalent to 26.35 percent of appropriations, which is usually regarded as a healthy percentage for a municipality.
Schoon explained that the fund balance funds aren’t “idle,” but planned for future needs. She said the fund balance is maintained for large capital projects, based on a six-year capital plan, avoiding debt when possible, managing risk and emergencies, smoothing rate and tax impacts over time, and complying with minimum fund balance policies in the city.
Staffing changes and wage increases
There is budgeted to be a few staffing changes at the city in the budget. The Three Rivers Fire Department is expected to reinstate a deputy chief position, while the Three Rivers Police Department is looking to add a part-time evidence room clerk.
The Department of Public Services is also expected to be restructured in the budget, and will go to one project manager, one lead supervisor, and one junior water operator. Currently, there are two crew leaders, one asset manager, and one part-time assistant.
There are also contractual wage increases of 3-4 percent in accordance with union contracts and compensation plans.
What’s next?
Overall, Schoon said residents will notice several things with the budget, including stronger infrastructure, a “vibrant community,” safer neighborhoods, reliable services, and investments in the future.
“This budget is designed not only to maintain services today, but to continue building the community residents want to see in the future,” Schoon said.
There will be a public hearing on the budget proposal at the Tuesday, May 19 Three Rivers City Commission hearing, which starts at 6 p.m. at City Hall. The budget is expected to be approved prior to the commission’s June 16 meeting.
Robert Tomlinson can be reached at 279-7488 or robert@wilcoxnewspapers.com.
