Canton Residents: Expect Higher Township Fees, Reduced Services

Canton residents and businesses will see a drop in services and higher fees next year, in a plan to save $15 million approved by the 's board of trustees Tuesday night.

Township workers, including union members, have agreed to take a pay cut and shut the administration building for 13 days in both 2011 and 2012 (in addition to weekends and holidays). Employees will be off work, without pay, on those days. The closings will be spread out throughout the year, usually one day per month.

Exceptions to furloughs are and ; the police department lobby and fire stations will remain open and officers remain on duty. Leisure Services employees's unpaid days off will be scheduled so that buildings used by the public will remain open, though with lower staff levels.

The two employee unions agreed to the furlough, as did the non-union, management-level township workers. Though the pain was spread around, it still wasn't a happy agreement, said township building inspector Pat Falzon, president of American Federation Of State, County And Municipal Employees Local 3860.

"I think it is going to hurt township services. You're talking about inspections that won't happen and services that won't be available at the township offices," Falzon said. "For us, it's a 5 percent pay cut, and nobody's happy with that. But it's a sign of the times. It was part of a concession package we did in order to save jobs."

David Medley, township human resources director, said next year the administration building will be closed on Jan. 28, Feb. 21, March 25, April 25, May 27, June 24, July 1, July 29, Aug. 19, Sept. 2, Oct. 21 and Nov. 14. The employee furlough also includes an extra eight-hour day, though those hours can be spread throughout the year and won't result in any closure of facilities.

The furlough basically works out to be a 5 percent pay cut for all employees except the police and firefighters. Township trustees approved a 1.75-mill tax increase in November for police and fire services.

Medley said the public safety officials made internal cuts as well, eliminating open positions, and modified their benefit plan.

"While there wasn't any layoffs, it still results that workers have to do more with less, and those eliminated positions usually don't come back," Medley said.

Many other cities and state offices have instituted furloughs to avoid layoffs, which cause anguish to the employer as well as the employee, Medley said. "You've then got to deal with different union contracts, and how people get bumped around. Someone gets bumped into a job they're unfamiliar with (and) it can take a lot of time to get them trained and up to speed," he said.

At Tuesday's meeting, township trustees also agreed to raise some, but not all, service fees to residents and businesses.

Examples of the new rates for more than 280 fees include permit increases for new home construction, renovations and additions, such as decks, fences and even solar panels.

Tim Faas, municipal services director, said that about half of the fees charged by the township will go up, starting Jan. 3. Companies will feel the pinch as well, such as a temporary certificate of occupancy for a new business jumping from $150 to $250.

Supervisor Phil LaJoy said the changes are part of a three-pronged budget improvement approach -- the police/fire tax increase will add $15 million to township coffers --  and should put the township on better financial footing by 2013. "We're going to revisit this every year, but we're hoping this will put us in a good position. We're trying to maintain as much as possible, to keep Canton the great community that it is," LaJoy said.