With Mayor Heartwell and my nephew Brendan, who shadowed me for a day. 


Greetings Friends and Neighbors,

These past few months have been quite busy as we tackle the difficult budget we are faced with at the City.  Like the State of Michigan, revenues (from income tax, sales tax and property tax) have fallen significantly resulting in a projected budget deficit of 27 million dollars for the fiscal year 2010/2011 and a mid-year deficit of over 6 million dollars.  In order to balance this year's budget, the City Manager announced that he would be laying off 125 City employees.   This has been a heart-breaking process and by far the most difficult since I began serving on the City Commission.   

To address the 2010/2011 budget deficit, the City Commission and City Manager began working on the budget in September.  Nine community budget meetings have been held that provided detailed budget information to participants along with providing an opportunity for participants to share their thoughts and ideas.   I have posted survey questions about the budget to this website and you are welcome to complete the survey to share your thoughts with me directly.   All input from the community meetings can be found at the City's website at www.grcity.us.

These are challenging times that we face, however I am confident that together we can find solutions that maintain our quality of life in our City.   If you have questions, thoughts, ideas or concerns, please do not hesitate to contact me.

As the New Year approaches I hope that you all have a peaceful holiday.  
Honored to be serving you,
Rosalynn Bliss