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A
SSOCIATED
N
EWSPAPERS OF
M
ICHIGAN
P
AGE
5
January 2, 2014
B
ELLEVILLE
- R
OMULUS
Budget cuts could reduce hours at museum
Members of the Van Buren
Township Board of Trustees
approved the 2014 Special
Revenue Fund budgets by a 5-2
vote at ameeting early lastmonth.
The no votes were cast by
Regina Miller and Township
ClerkLeonWright.
The Special Revenue Fund
budgets are for the use of funds
from several sources, other than
property taxes or fees, and
include contributions from local
governments. One of the facilities
usually funded from the Special
Revenue fund is the Belleville
Area Museum, a facility open to
residents of the City of Belleville
and Sumpter Township, as well as
VanBuren.
Citing budgetary constraints,
Sumpter Township opted out of
funding the museum several
years ago, leaving Belleville and
Van Buren to fund $64,000 in
annual expenses, or a contribu-
tion of $32,000 from each munici-
pality in 2010. Since that time,
however, the contribution from
Belleville has declined to only
$17,000 in 2011 and a projected
total of only $11,000 for 2014.
The Belleville contribution to
the museumwas coming from the
Downtown
Development
Authority and the city general
fund. With the declining portion
of the operating costs for the
museum from the city and
Sumpter, Van Buren is left as
almost the total support of the
facility.
Township officials discussed
the issue and suggested ameeting
with Belleville officials to suggest
an increased contribution and
with Sumpter officials to suggest
they reinstate their contribution,
whichwas $32,000 annually at one
time.
Without some revenue from
other sources, officials said cost-
saving measures at the museum
would be necessary, including
reducing hours at the facility.
On the afternoon of Thursday,
Dec. 19, the halls of Romulus
Elementary School were alivewith
the spirit of Christmas. Nearly half
of the members of the Romulus
High School chapter of the
National Honor Society were in
attendance at the annual “Santa
Shop”. This event gives kinder-
garteners the opportunity to shop
for their parents at absolutely no
cost to them, thanks to the gener-
ous donations from members of
the National Honor Society,
Romulus Community Schools staff
members, and other city officials.
National Honor Society
Chapter Co-adviser and City
Councilwoman Kathy Abdo noted,
“We are proud to present this
event every year. Christmas is the
season of giving, and this a great
way for us to give back to the com-
munity as well as make some of
our kindergarteners very happy.
We look forward to continuing this
tradition in the years to come.”
Kyle Brown
Special Writer
Santa’s Shop
Jeremiah Moore took the opportunity to tell Santa what he wanted for
Christmas.
Members of the Romulus High School National Honor Society helped
kindergarten students during the Santa Shop event at Romulus
Elementary School.
Photos by Roger Kadau