Jessica Mathews / news@whmi.com


The Pinckney Village Council met Monday night and adopted the budget for the coming year with reduced funding for police services - but more cuts are anticipated amid a continued deficit.

There were some contentious points during the meeting, and what appeared to be a divide between most of council and Police Chief Jeff Garrison.

After different failed motions, one to approve the budget with $500,000 for the police department eventually passed - with the caveat that work would continue to find more cuts. With that amount, it was stated a $41,305 deficit would remain.

At a special budget meeting last week, Councilman Rob Coppersmith had suggested reducing the police budget down to $500,00 and then putting a millage request before voters in November.

It’s being assumed that millage will still be put before voters, and the $500,000 was the amount approved. A past budget document listed the requested amount for 2026/2027 as $793,253.

President Jeff Buerman was opposed to the motion made last night, and has stated on multiple occasions he would not vote for an un-balanced budget and they still need to make “drastic cuts”.
He also defended his various roles with the Village, saying “there’s a lot of misinformation out there, and it’s disappointing what I hear…everybody here is trying to do what’s right”.

Trustee Jo Self added an item to the agenda for a “performance review of the police chief”.

It was stated Garrison has repeatedly been asked to come up with a plan for a smaller department but has not presented anything - with the Village’s “1.4-square-miles” again referenced.

When asked if he could work with the $500,000 number – Garrison said “I will make it work, and I’ll have to make it work”.

Buerman went on to ask “What about controlling your reserve officers, what they say in public and online. We had a meeting, we talked about this…you said you’d talk to him, why are they still…I would prefer that officer no longer be part of our reserves”.

Garrison stated he didn’t know if they can sanction him for what he says online as it is his private account. Buerman said “you gotta be careful what you say online when you work for the village”.

When asked directly if he wanted the officer terminated, Buerman said “I do”. He went on that Garrison does not communicate with him or work as a team, and “that’s a problem”. Buerman added “I don’t believe you’re the guy that can take us to the future and keep our police department - you’re not”.

Other members raised other issues with the police department, saying it’s fueling rumors – which Garrison denied. He also asserted he has never indicated the department is above anybody and has worked with people in the office and village just fine – so “I question the walking on pins and needles – I question it heavily”.

Coppersmith later stated he was “not comfortable calling this an evaluation – it’s a yell at the chief fest”.

It was referenced during the meeting the Village is dealing with auditors and “is being watched” and cuts need to be made to balance the budget and avoid a future state takeover. Questions were also again raised during the first call to the public about the resignation of the two past treasurers. Calls were previously placed by WHMI to each but were not returned.

During the final call to the public, one resident raised questions about targeting the police chief and asked where the results of a community survey were. Others expressed a desire for Putnam Township, which contracts with the Livingston County Sheriff’s Office, and the Village to work together on providing police services.