There’s still a lot of work to be done. As the economy begins its slow but steady recovery, it could be as late as 2025 before local governments return to the revenue levels they saw in 2007.
My prudent fiscal management of the county, use of technology, economic diversification strategies, and quality of life initiatives have positioned OaklandCounty to be among the strongest in the nation.
If you take a look at OaklandCounty’s dashboard, you will find that much of what is being talked about in Lansing as needed reform on the local level has been a part of OaklandCounty government’s agenda for years.
We’re already taking a look at budget year 2014 and beyond. We have spotted some concerns ahead. But because of my three-year, line-item budget, we will solve these issues now so that further into the future when we reach those tough spots, they will be mere bumps in the road.
My Budget Task Force tells me they don’t expect the housing market to reach bottom until 2013. Meanwhile, some families continue to face the prospect of losing their homes. My housing counselors in OaklandCounty’s Community and Home Improvement Division are showing a great deal of success at keeping families in their homes. Of the people that reach out for help when facing foreclosure, OaklandCounty has kept 70% of them in their homes.
As the auto companies begin to show signs that they are global competitors once again, I am continuing to diversify OaklandCounty’s economy through my Emerging Sectors, Medical Main Street and Automation Alley job creation and retention strategies. We also are helping local small businesses get the advice and funding they need in order to remain viable. It all points toward a future where in perhaps a couple decades from now, OaklandCounty will be recession resistant. That is my goal.
The next step in my job diversification strategy is to harness the growth in our burgeoning Emerging Sector of alternative energy. This year, my Economic Development and Community Affairs Department will commission a study to give us detailed information on what’s going on in our second-fastest growing Emerging Sector next to health and life sciences. With this study, we will know how to take alternative energy to the next level in Oakland County.
Join my #Elite40, Charles DeVries, at @AutomationAlley's Annual Golf Outing 6/25 at The Inn at St. John's in Plymouth. 
