Of the ten firms that applied, those that made the cut were Affion Public, The Mercer Group and The Waters Consulting Group. A representative of each firm presented their credentials and made a case to be the city’s pick for choosing qualified city manager candidates to replace East Lansing City Manager Ted Staton.

Staton will conclude his 16-year tenure as East Lansing’s city manager Oct. 7, and will take up a position as city manager for Upper Arlington, Ohio, shortly thereafter. Deputy City Manager George Lahanas will serve as the interim city manager until a new one is chosen.

The firm selected to hunt for Staton’s replacement is scheduled to begin the candidate recruitment process in October, and the council hopes to be presented with potential candidates in late November. A new city manager is scheduled to be announced in early 2012, following the council’s interview process.

Councilmember Roger Peters said what was pitched to the council by the firms was sufficient material from the groups themselves but wanted to hear feedback from each firms’ references provided before making a final decision on the matter.

“I’d like the benefit of (reference’s) comments before moving forward,” Peters said. “As far as information from the applicant firms, I’ve got enough information.”

A final discussion and decision on choice of search firms is expected next week.

Council also was presented with a financial update by current East Lansing City Manager Ted Staton and Finance Director Mary Haskell. Appropriations from the proposed general fund budget, formerly slated at $34,224,685, now is projected to be amended and reduced, generating $380,790 in additional funds for the city.

Haskell said the new projection was good news for the city, considering grim forecasts of budgets in future fiscal years and uncertainty in the state government and city personnel changes.

“These funds will help us weather what’s going to happen in 2013,” she said.

Budgetary matters will continue to be scrutinized closely by city officials as the year continues, and amendments will be made as necessary, Haskell said.

Property taxable values were not as optimistic, according to City Assessor David Lee. An August residential sales study performed by city officials projects a 6.5 percent decrease in taxable value in 2012, a decrease that would equate to about $36,000 in losses on taxable value for residential properties in the city.

Lee attributed some of the decline to the initial projection of the taxable values given in January.
“A lion’s share of the reason for the decline is from the forecast that was performed in January of this year,” he said.

An estimate of a 5 percent decrease in taxable values on commercial properties also was given, which would result in about $17,000 in loss. No study has yet been conducted on commercial properties, Lee said, but a formal study will take place later this year.