By: Gena Johnson | West Bloomfield Beacon | Published July 18, 2025
ORCHARD LAKE VILLAGE — The city of Orchard Lake Village began its new fiscal year July 1.
“Yes, we’ll see a slight increase in our property taxes,” said Gerry McCallum, the city manager of Orchard Lake Village. “Our budget is based upon the millage rate that is established for the city operating (millage) and based upon the taxable value of the property.”
The city has seen an increase of 4.75-5% in overall taxable values, so residents can expect to see a similar increase in their property taxes during the 2025-26 fiscal year.
Budget process and funds
The 2025-26 budget was unanimously approved and adopted by the Orchard Lake City Council by resolution in May, following a months-long process that began at the start of the year.
The city’s finance committee met and discussed the proposed budget prepared by McCallum and his staff. They made recommendations on what to keep or omit.
Once the committee and administration agreed on a proposed budget, it then went before the council for review and a vote.
“It is a process, and we have a lot of hands in it, which is good,” McCallum said. “It’s a team effort.”
The overall budget for 2025-26 weighs in at $6.4 million. Of this, the general fund totals nearly $4.9 million, compared to the $4.7 million budget the year prior.
“The general fund is our operating fund where we pay for trash, fire, police, DPW,” McCallum said. “We have other funds that are associated with roads: local roads, major roads, the building department fund — those are separate funds.”
Revenue and reserves
McCallum said that no money was used from the last fiscal year to balance the new budget.
“We had an increase in revenue between 2024-25 and 2025-26 of $140,000,” he said, noting this was likely due to an increase in taxable value from new construction and property sales.
“We had a reserve amount from the 2024-25 budget of nearly $300,000 that went back in the general fund balance,” McCallum said.
He praised his team for their efforts crafting a stable budget.
“This is a team effort — (the result of) the finance committee, staff and our City Council, who watches our budget through budget amendments on a quarterly basis through the fiscal year,” McCallum said. “I certainly think the city is in great financial shape. I certainly like this position (rather) than being in the negative or having to come up with some additional funds.”
Millages
The city manager said the city tax rate has not changed in eight years.
“We’re still operating on the 8.06 mills,” McCallum said. “What you’re seeing is we’re very fiscally responsible in our expenditures.
“Typically, in the last five to eight years we have always underrun our expenditures versus our revenue,” he said. “So, we’re increasing our fund balance every year.”
The city collects $1 for every $1,000 of a property’s taxable, multiplied by the millage rate.
Capital investment
McCallum noted this year’s budget will focus on repairing residential streets, with nearly $500,000 programmed for the road fund. The city does its own paving through the general fund and contributions from the local road fund.
“The city and our council and staff have been very aggressive in trying to keep up on road paving over the years,” McCallum said. “I think that’s a good benefit for our residents. They see their tax dollars at work when they have a new road in front of their house.”
Past projects included renovations at City Hall that expanded the police headquarters and built a garage for the Department of Public Works to house city vehicles. These projects were funded by 20-year bonds.
“We really hit a lot of our targets in the capital improvement plan we did five years ago.” McCallum said.
The city bonded $4.5 million in 2023 for the City Hall projects, and officials anticipate paying it off early.
“We are appropriating additional funds for the last two years and the upcoming five years to pay our bond off in seven years versus the 20 years,” McCallum said.
Orchard Lake City Councilman Bruce McIntyre, who also serves as mayor pro tem and as a member of the finance committee, said paying off the bond early is a priority.
“The most notable item in the budget is our ability to set money aside for early repayment of the bonds,” McIntyre said. “We were able to do this while maintaining a healthy fund balance — the so-called ‘rainy day’ fund.”
The outlook
Other accomplishments in the 2025-26 budget include maintaining current city employees. No positions have been eliminated or reduced to part-time.
“We are currently at full staff, and we’re going to maintain that for the next fiscal year,” McCallum said.
Some salaries were increased to stay competitive with other municipalities, and the city has also been modernizing equipment for public works and public safety.
“We were able to bring our police salaries in line with comparable communities. … We have been able to purchase needed new equipment for our (public works) and a new police vehicle each year, even though the costs for these have skyrocketed,” said Norm Finkelstein, mayor of Orchard Lake Village.
“Money is tight for all communities, especially with the loss of some federal dollars and less state revenue sharing,” he said. “But Orchard Lake is fortunate that our tax revenues are increasing with all the new construction, as well as the mandated annual assessment increases.”
McCallum said he feels positive about the city’s financial future.
“I think the city is very proactive on legacy costs that we’re trying to get under control,” he said, citing the bond payments as an example. “The city has always done a good job with their pension obligations, funding them properly. We’re almost at 100% maximum funding. … This city is in great shape … financially, structurally, council-wise, (and) staff-wise.”
McIntyre, who had been on the council for more than 25 years, agreed with McCallum.
“Overall, we are in the best financial condition that I have seen in the last decade since the recession,” he said.