News & Events

Changes Coming to the Portager Newsletter

Tuesday, January 19, 2010

As budget issues continue for the city (declining state revenue sharing, increasing wastewater treatment charges from the City of Kalamazoo, reduced interest/investment income, declining Act 51 revenue, declining property valuations and increasing health insurance related expenditures), the City Administration and City Council continue to review a variety of cost-saving measures to assist with budgetary challenges facing the city. One measure recently approved by the Council involves the production of the Portager newsletter six times per year rather than monthly. 

While the 2009 Portage Community Survey results reveal that the Portager represents an important source of information for happenings in Portage city government, a production schedule of six times per year will still allow for distribution of the most critical information, yet reduce costs by an estimated $38,500 annually. The reduced schedule will include distribution of the Portager in January, March, May, June, September and December each year. This production schedule allows for the inclusion of annual inserts and important information such as leaf collection dates, Summer Entertainment Series and other recreation events, election information, property tax assessment information, etc. 

The City of Portage remains committed to providing residents with important information in a timely manner. The city website is updated daily and provides the public with a variety of important information.