Politics & Government

Auditors: Chesterfield Police Fund Will be Depleted

The township overall was given an "unqualified audit opinion" during the annual review, but the police fund will run dry in 4-5 years if nothing changes.

Chesterfield Township's police fund will be depleted in four to five years unless changes are made, auditors reported Monday to the township board.

During the 2011 financial audit by Plante and Moran, auditors told the township that the overall community received an "unqualified audit opinion"--essentially the gold star rating--for sound financial management.

However, the police department suffered an $870,000 operating loss because of an 18 percent decline in property values, according to Pamela Hill of Plante and Moran.

Find out what's happening in New Baltimore-Chesterfieldwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

"You have been able to decrease expenses and still maintain serves your residents have come to expect," Hill said.

But she told officials they would either need to increase revenue or reduce expenses in the near future to avoid fund depletion. She also encouraged them to look at longterm planning for the department.

Find out what's happening in New Baltimore-Chesterfieldwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Last summer, Chesterfield Financial Director Victoria Bauer told the board that the was about $7.4 million and 91 percent of that money came from tax collections.

Chesterfield designates detective to COMET

Meanwhile, the board approved the police department's request to add a detective to the County of Macomb Enforcement Team, also known as COMET, for two years. During that time, the state will pay the township $100,000 for having that person on the task force.

Although it will still cost about $105,000 for the township to a pay the detective's salary and benefits annually, Chief Bruce Smith says participating in the multijurisdictional team is worth it. Smith noted that COMET is available to assist in township criminal cases. He pointed out that it helped track down fugitive Roland Lee Moore Jr., who was wanted for , and assisted in the .

Smith said a township officer has participated in COMET three of his six years as chief.


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