Part of the Budget process each year is determining the rates that are seen on the water bill. The City has a July to June fiscal year, and typically the vote to approve the Budget and set the water bill rates is done at the second meeting in June. Having the vote at the last City Council meeting before the new year gives us the most amount of time to plan, estimate dollars coming into the City, and get everything into the Budget that we would like to see.

Last year, as usual, the City Administration (City Manager, Finance Director, etc.) proposed new rates for the water bill. Typically these rates increase by a few percent each year due to inflation or some increased costs with our water or sewer providers. These proposed rates were instead a 30%+ average increase to the typical resident's water bill. In many cases it was even higher, surpassing 36%, depending on the size of the Ready-to-Serve pipe and how many units of water were used that month. Obviously, this proposed increase immediately troubled me. Were we really under-charging for years (a suggestion from the Finance Director)? Was there some increase from the Great Lakes Water Authority (GLWA) or Southeast Macomb Sanitary District (SMSD) that I had not heard about? Well, I began investigating, and well, setting water and sewer rates is complicated.

Three firefighters were recently promoted within the City of Eastpointe Fire Department. Congratulations to Sergeant Nick Sage, Lieutenant Kirk Lee and Battalion Chief Scott Walsh!

Eastpointe's own Chris Causley, member and President of the Michigan Military Technical and Historical Society Museum, has been appointed to the State of Michigan's World War I Centennial Commission. Congratulations!

The Commission's website states: "Christopher Causley of Eastpointe is employed by the Federal Government and is a founding member and president of the Michigan Military Technical and Historical Society Museum in Eastpointe, Michigan. He holds an associate’s degree in automotive technology from Macomb Community College and a bachelor’s degree in military history from the American Military University."