Proposed elimination of a media specialist with the Centreville Public Schools prompted a show of support for the employee by students and parents during a special meeting of the Centreville Board of Education Tuesday evening (May 8th). For more on the story from Jef Rietsma and the Sturgis Journal, click on the following link:  Centreville [...]

The proposed budget for Fiscal Year 2013 – a period that will begin July 1st – was in the spotlight during a nearly two-hour special meeting of the Three Rivers City Commission Tuesday evening (May 8th). During the early portion of the session, Finance Director Cathy Lawson utilized a series of slides in a PowerPoint [...]

Washington, DC – Thursday (March 29), Congressman Upton (R- St. Joseph) voted in support of the House budget proposal (H.Con.Res. 112) for Fiscal Year 2013.  The resolution passed the U.S. House of Representatives by a vote of 228-191 and now awaits consideration in the Senate, which has failed to adopt a budget for over 1000 [...]

The Fabius Township Board has adopted a proposed budget for 2012-2013 that is similar to the spending plan for the current year. Action on the budget came after a public hearing during the board’s March meeting Wednesday evening (March 14th). Supervisor John Kroggel said, “As stated at previous meetings, there are no significant changes from [...]

The Cassopolis Public Schools are contemplating cuts of a more than a half-million dollars in the district’s 2012-2013 budget. For more on the story from John Eby and the Dowagiac Daily News, click on the following link:  Cass schools consider cuts

The Fabius Township Board began the budget-making process for the upcoming fiscal year during a special meeting Tuesday (January 17th). The session – originally slated for Wednesday – was moved up a day because of a scheduling conflict. In commenting on the budget session, Township Supervisor John Kroggel said, “The meeting was at a very [...]

State Treasurer Andy Dillon, State Budget Director John Nixon, Senate Fiscal Agency Director Ellen Jeffries, and House Fiscal Agency Director Mary Ann Cleary on Friday (January 13th) reached a consensus on economic and revenue figures for the remainder of Fiscal Year (FY) 2012, FY 2013, which begins October 1, 2012, and FY 2014. As a [...]

The Fabius Township Board has scheduled a special meeting for 5 p.m. on Wednesday, January 18th, to begin the process to develop a budget for the township’s new fiscal year that begins on April 1st. During the board’s regular monthly meeting Wednesday evening (January 11th), Township Supervisor John Kroggel noted that he needs to present [...]

The audit for 2010 and the budget for 2012 were in the spotlight during the November meeting of the Three Rivers Health Authority Board Thursday morning (November 17th). Two representatives of Plante & Moran, PLLC, the firm that conducted the audit, reviewed the document and shared information about trends in health care and the outlook [...]

The proposed budget for 2012 was the subject of a public hearing during Tuesday’s (November 1st) meeting of the St. Joseph County Board of Commissioners. One person – Michelle Zimmerman of Burr Oak – addressed the board during the five-minute hearing.  She asked commissioners to “reconsider the cutting of one clerical staff from the MSU [...]

Funding for St. Joseph County/MSU Extension was a key topic Tuesday afternoon (October 18th) as the St. Joseph County Board of Commissioners conducted the first of two work sessions on the county’s 2012 budget.  The second work session is slated to get underway at 3 p.m. Thursday (October 20th) at the Courthouse in Centreville. To [...]

Michigan’s Legislature made significant reforms in the first part the session this year to balance its budget and bring state spending under control. We had to make difficult decisions on what cuts were necessary to make long-term change to Michigan. Now that Michigan’s spending is being addressed, attention turns to the federal government, which barely [...]

The St. Joseph County Board of Commissioners has scheduled work sessions for the county’s 2012 budget. In action Tuesday (October 4th), the board set Tuesday, October 18th at 3 p.m. for the first of two such special meetings.  The second session – if needed – will be held at 3 p.m. on Thursday, October 20th. [...]

WASHINGTON, DC – U.S. Representative Fred Upton (R-St. Joseph), chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, Tuesday evening (July 19th) joined his House colleagues in voting to pass the “Cut, Cap, and Balance Act of 2011” (H.R. 2560), an innovative three-pronged approach to tackle our nation’s soaring debt and put our fiscal house back [...]

The Southwestern Michigan College Board of Trustees held a public budget hearing, adopted the college’s 2011-2012 operating budget, opened bids for the resurfacing of two parking lots, accepted gifts and grants (see separate release), appointed a college auditor, and conducted other business during its June 27th meeting held on the Dowagiac campus. After holding a [...]

The Three Rivers Community Schools Board of Education has adopted a General Fund Budget for the fiscal year that begins July 1st. The action came during a meeting Monday evening (June 20th) and followed a public hearing in which budget information was presented.  No citizens commented on the budget during the hearing. The proposed General [...]

An editorial in the June 12th edition of the Kalamazoo Gazette – headlined “$2 billion is too much” – suggested that “Michigan must find ways to cut prison spending.”  It noted that “The 2012 general fund budget lawmakers passed last month in Lansing allots just under $2 billion for corrections – not much of a [...]

A new budget is now in place for the City of Three Rivers for Fiscal Year 2011-12, which begins July 1st  – but it didn’t come easily. The budget – with total General Fund operating expenditures of $3,745,966 and tax levies totaling 20.1562 mills – was adopted by the Three Rivers City Commission Tuesday evening [...]

Park Township’s proposed budget for 2011-2012 will be the subject of a public hearing during the June meeting of the Park Township Board Wednesday evening (June 8th). Following the hearing, the board is expected to adopt the budget. The meeting at the Park Township Hall in Parkville is set to get underway at 7:30 p.m. [...]

The Three Rivers City Commission will conduct a public hearing on the proposed budget for Fiscal Year 2011-12 during its regular meeting Tuesday evening (June 7th). Scheduling of the hearing reflects the fact that the budget-making process underway in recent weeks, including special commission meetings on May 10th and 24th, is nearing an end. The [...]