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On path
to
fiscal
stability,
Wayne
County
petitions
State to
be
released
from
consent
agreement
DETROIT
- Today,
Wayne
County
Executive
Warren
C. Evans
made a
formal
request
to
Treasurer
Nick
Khouri
seeking
release
from the
Consent
Agreement,
which
the
County
and
State
entered
into on
Aug. 21,
2015.
“We’ve
stuck to
our
‘Recovery
Plan’
and come
very far
in a
short
period
of
time,”
said
Executive
Evans.
“There’s
much
more
work to
do, but
we’re on
a
sustainable
path and
I think
the
state
recognizes
that. I
look
forward
to
exiting
the
Consent
Agreement
and
taking
the next
steps
toward
securing
a
financially
strong
future
for the
County.”
The
Consent
Agreement
required
the
County
to
eliminate
its
structural
deficit
and
demonstrate
that
fiscal
stability
has been
restored.
In order
for the
County
to be
released
from the
Consent
Agreement,
it must
receive
written
notification
from the
State
Treasurer
that it
has
complied
with the
agreement.
The
Evans
administration’s
“Recovery
Plan”
has
eliminated
a $52
million
structural
deficit
and $82
million
accumulated
deficit
while
restructuring
employee
and
retiree
health
care to
eliminate
$829
million
in
unfunded
obligations.
The
County
has also
reduced
its
unfunded
pension
liabilities
from
$817
million
to $636
million
from
Sept.
30, 2014
to Sept.
20,
2015.
The
County
has also
balanced
its
budget
two
years in
a row
with an
accumulated
unassigned
surplus
of $35.7
million
for
fiscal
year
2015.
That
accumulated
unassigned
surplus
is
projected
to
increase
for
fiscal
year
2016
once
final
numbers
are
available.
“In less
than two
years,
we’ve
identified
the
fiscal
problems
and
taken
swift
action
to
address
them.
The
County
faces
significant
challenges
ahead,
but is
on its
best
footing
in quite
some
time,”
Evans
said.
These
efforts
have
been
noticed
by
credit
rating
agencies,
which
have
resulted
in
favorable
rankings.
Last
week,
Moody’s
upgraded
the
County’s
bond
rating
and
elevated
its
financial
outlook
from
stable
to
positive.
In June,
Standard
& Poor’s
upgraded
the
County’s
financial
outlook
from
negative
to
positive
and
Fitch
Ratings
upgraded
the
County’s
bond
rating
to BB+.
“We’ve
eliminated
the
structural
deficit,
significantly
reduced
our
unfunded
pension
obligations
and most
importantly,
changed
the
culture
in Wayne
County
government,”
Executive
Evans
said.
“Every
day
we’re
responsibly
working
to
stretch
our
dollars
to
improve
the
services
we
deliver
to the
community.”
In June
of 2015,
Executive
Evans
took the
bold
step of
requesting
the
State of
Michigan’s
Department
of
Treasury
conduct
a
financial
review,
which
resulted
in the
declaration
of a
Financial
Emergency
in Wayne
County.
On Aug.
13,
2015,
the
15-member
Wayne
County
Commission
approved
the
Consent
Agreement.
Executive
Evans
signed
the
Consent
Agreement
on Aug.
17,
2015,
and the
document
was
transmitted
to, and
then
signed
by,
State
Treasurer
Khouri
on Aug.
21,
2015,
making
the
Consent
Agreement
effective.
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