Oakland County recovery to take 15 years

[Det_ard]

Have you been on a remote Pacific island for the past 15 months? We're knee-deep IN the shitstorm, son!

It's not stopping at knee-deep. Commercial RE values are poised to drop even more as commercial loan foreclosures are just starting to heat up. Assessments for both residential and commercial properties haven't hit bottom yet and won't for a few years.

Add in the fact that many thousands of residential and commercial property owners are in the process of challenging their property tax assessments. The Michigan Tax Tribunal is running about 2.5 years out for hearings now. When the tax payers win, in 2.5 years, they are refunded the overpayment for the last 2.5 years. That's why OC has set up an accounts payable line item to accrue funds for that eventuality.

So, yeah, the shit storm is coming, so far municipalities has just been experiencing a little shit drizzle.

[Novine]

"Several years ago, Brooks and the County Commission instituted multi-year budgeting. As a result, OC has a balanced budget for this year ... and for the next two years. Hate all you want on Brooks and Co., but they know how to run a county government."

OC isn't allowed to run a deficit so I'm not sure why "Brooks and Co." should get extra praise for that accomplishment. To the claim that the budget is balanced this year and for the next two, go back and see if the out year budgets passed a couple of years survived the financial reality check of today's economic conditions. The answer is no. They thought they had balanced budgets. Turned out they were wrong. We'll only know if the next 2 years are balanced when we get that time.