SEPT. 2011 NEWSLETTER
HAROLD MAST - COUNTY COMMISSION
DISTRICT 12 (WYOMING & KENTWOOD)
Paid by Committee to Elect Harold Mast as County
Commissioner
BOC meetings:
8:30 am on September 8th and 22nd.
September Meetings/Events I will attend:
- Sept 1 Veteran’s Advisory Committee
- Sept 1 Alliance for Health CON Hearing
- Sept 2 Alliance for Health 1st Friday Forum
- Sept 2 Mast Campaign Committee meeting
- Sept 6 BOC Finance Comm. and
Consolidation/Collaboration Comm.
- Sept 6 Wyoming/Kentwood Chamber Gov’t Affairs Comm.
- Sept 7-12 Round Table International Conference
- Sept 8 Board of Commissioners
- Sept 12 Network 180 Board mtg
- Sept 12 Amvets Post 23 mtg
- Sept 14 State Mental Health Conference — Lansing
- Sept 15 BOC Executive Committee
- Sept 15 Rep Yonker’s Fund Raiser
- Sept 16 Advocates for Seniors
- Sept 16 Vietnam Veterans special declaration at Vets Home
- Sept 19-20 Michigan Ass. of Counties Conference
- Sept 21 Breakfast mtg with Congressman Huizenga’s senior staff
- Sept 22 BOC Finance Comm
- Sept 22 Board of Commissioners
- Sept 22 MI Coalition against Homelessness Board mtg
- Sept 22 MI Veteran’s Counselors Conference banquet
- Sept 23 United Growth luncheon
- Sept 26 Hope Network Housing Review meeting
- Sept 26 Network 180 Special Board mtg
- Sept 27 BOC Legislative Comm
- Sept 27 Kent County Vets Council
- Sept 27 Senior Meals Board mtg
- Sept 30 Kent Cty Leadership Conf.
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 If
you would prefer, you can also download this newsletter by clicking the PDF
logo on the left.Some key happenings the
past month include:
- The county’s discount medication prescription card program has
helped 8,702 Kent County residents save money on prescriptions so far
this year. See copy of letter sent to me in August on my web site.
- County Commissioners received some information last week on Kent
County Correction Center (county jail) population. The inmate census at
the jail peaked in 2007 at 1300 inmates and has gradually decreased
since then to a current census of 1093 inmates. That is good news, but
wonder if it will continue.
- Kent County is soliciting citizen applications for appointment to
various boards and commissioners in the community. The openings are
listed on the county website
www.accesskent.com.
- Since 2006, the Kent County Prevention Coalition (KCPC) has brought
together over 25 community organizations to address substance use
disorders in Kent County. This effort recently received the first State
of Michigan “Coalition of the Year” award. The county provides over $1
million in prevention funds.
- The County’s Finance Committee is working on next year’s operating
and capital budget. It appears the county will have a deficit of more
than $6 million between receipts and expenses in the $165 million budget
plan. I am sure we will have to dip into our cash reserves to balance
the budget again this year.
- The Kent County Emergency Needs Task Force recently published it’s
annual brochure of how hundreds of non-profits, governmental agencies,
churches, and foundations help the most vulnerable in our community meet
their housing, transportation, utility, and food needs. See
www.accesskent.com
for brochure.
- The Alliance for Health received a renewal of its Robert Wood
Johnson grant to help develop a plan to implement increased quality and
affordable health care in our community. This work ties in closely with
the aim of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act and meeting
quality assurance requirements.
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 Tell
Me What you think on my blog.Issue
of the Month—County Cash Reserves and AAA Credit Rating
County Fiscal Services Director, Steve Duarte, recently
reported the county has 53 days of cash reserves on hand with which to pay
bills without having to buy “tax anticipation” notes to pay bills until such
time as tax receipts come in to pay the bills. While the County has always
had a cash reserve, it is alarming to note the number of days our county can
operate has declined by 14% the past five years. This means we need to be
careful how we budget for the next several years, and strive to maintain a
healthy ‘unassigned’ cash balance. An additional reason to carry a healthy
balance is it’s impact on the cost of money needed by the county to
implement capital improvement projects. Since 1999 the County has been able
to carry a triple-A financial rating—a distinction that only one other
Michigan county carries. Standard & Poor—which recently downgraded the US
credit rating—has said one of the main reasons they give us this rating is
because of our healthy cash balance of nearly $68 million. This triple A
rating enables the county—and many other local municipalities who use the
county’s triple A rating to aid in their borrowing—over $1 million per year
for capital projects over what it would be if we were only double A rated.
The debate of how much we should continue to dip into the ‘’unassigned’ fund
balance versus reducing level of services to live within current tax revenue
becomes more relevant and difficult each year. I would be interested in
hearing feedback from readers about how I should approach this issue by
e-mailing me a comment to
hamast@comcast.net. Or...
Tell
Me What you think on my blog.
View Past Newsletters:
April 2012
March 2012
February 2012
January 2012
December 2011
November 2011
October 2011
September 2011
August 2011
July 2011
June 2011
May 2011
April 2011
March 2011
January 2011
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