|
|
|
Wayne
County
exits
'Consent
Agreement'
with
State,
positioned
now to
tackle
remaining
challenges
DETROIT
- Today,
Wayne
County
Executive
Warren
C. Evans
announced
he has
received
formal
notification
from
State of
Michigan
Treasurer
Nick
Khouri
approving
the
County’s
request
to be
released
from the
Consent
Agreement.
This
exit
from the
Consent
Agreement
comes
about 14
months
after
the
County
entered
into its
agreement
with the
State.
After
reviewing
the
County’s
progress,
Khouri
determined
the
County
complied
with
terms of
the
agreement
by
eliminating
its
structural
deficit
and
restoring
its
overall
financial
stability.
“The
County
is in
its best
fiscal
position
in quite
some
time,
but
there’s
still a
long way
to go,”
Executive
Evans
said.
“Diligently
implementing
major
pieces
of our
Recovery
Plan has
gotten
us here
but many
key
pieces
of our
Recovery
Plan
remain
to be
implemented.
We are
now,
however,
positioned
to
address
those
challenges.”
In
complying
with the
Consent
Agreement,
the
Evans
administration
implemented
its
Recovery
Plan
which
eliminated
a $52
million
structural
deficit
and $82
million
accumulated
deficit
while,
at the
same
time,
restructuring
employee
and
retiree
health
care and
pensions
to
eliminate
$829
million
in
unfunded
health
care
obligations
and
raising
the
funding
level of
the
County’s
pension
system
from 45%
to 54%.
The
County’s
ability
to
utilize
the
Consent
Agreement
to
negotiate
new
collective
bargaining
agreements
with 12
of its
13 labor
unions
played a
key role
in
restructuring
the
County’s
finances
and
positioning
it to
move
forward.
“Unfortunately
there
was no
painless
way to
address
a
financial
crisis
of this
magnitude,”
Executive
Evans
said.
“We are
grateful
to all
who made
sacrifices
to help
turn
things
around
under
the
Consent
Agreement.
From
employees
and
retirees
to the
County’s
elected
officials
and the
State
Treasurer’s
office,
this
positive
turn
around
took a
whole
lot of
work,
cooperation
and
sacrifice
to make
it
happen.”
Adhering
to its
Recovery
Plan,
the
County
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.
Achieving
surpluses
is
critical
to
continuing
the
County’s
recovery
and
addressing
the key
challenges
still
facing
the
County,
including
underfunded
pensions,
health
care
liabilities
and the
condition
of the
current
jail
facilities.
While
the
County
was able
to
increase
the
funding
of its
pension
system
as the
result
of
measures
taken
during
the
pendency
of the
Consent
Agreement,
it still
has
$636.5
million
in
unfunded
pension
liabilities.
It also
reduced
unfunded
Other
Post-Employment
Benefits
(OPEB)
liabilities
from
$1.3
billion
to $462
million,
but the
system
remains
severely
underfunded.
Addressing
those
issues
as well
as
acquiring
the
estimated
several
hundred
millions
in bonds
needed
to
complete
the jail
site on
Gratiot
remain
key
components
of the
Recovery
Plan.
“It’s a
positive
step,
but not
cause
for any
long
celebrations,”
said
Executive
Evans.
“The
Consent
Agreement
allowed
us to do
what we
needed
to do,
but it
was
never
going to
be a
cure-all
to Wayne
County’s
finances.
It was
the
necessary
means to
get our
fiscal
house in
order so
we could
tackle
the
remaining
challenges.
We’ve
made
tremendous
progress,
but
exiting
the
Consent
Agreement
only
positions
us at
the
starting
line to
get
where we
need to
go as a
County.”
In June
of 2015,
Executive
Evans
requested
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.
Executive
Evans
sent a
formal
request
to the
State on
Thursday,
Oct. 6,
certifying
that all
requirements
of the
Consent
Agreement
had been
met and
asking
to be
released
from the
Consent
Agreement.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|