Wayne County chooses consent agreement to fix finances
Detroit — Now that Wayne County has chosen to resolve its financial emergency with a consent agreement, officials have a month to finalize its wording and get the county commission to sign off.
“The commission has to vote on a consent agreement within the next 30 days,” said Chairman Gary Woronchak, D-Dearborn. “I anticipate we could take a vote in the next couple of weeks.”
Woronchak made the remarks Thursday after county commissioners voted to enter into a consent agreement with the state to fix the county’s financial crisis.
County officials have put together a draft of an agreement in anticipation of the commission’s approval, but there is no formal document yet, Woronchak said.
“There will probably be a final draft in the next few days,” he said. “Then the commission will take on the task of studying that and deciding whether to approve it. There are still more steps in the process, but this was a big one.”
Wayne County is grappling with a $52 million structural deficit, stemming from a $100 million drop in annual property tax revenues since 2008 and an underfunded pension system. The county’s primary pension plan is 45 percent funded and has a liability of $910.5 million, based on the latest actuarial valuation.
Commissioners voted 12-2 in favor of pursuing a consent agreement with the state. The vote was held without any discussion among the panel.
Commissioners Jewel Ware, D-Detroit, and Raymond Basham, D-Taylor, voted against the measure. Commissioner Ilona Varga, D-Lincoln Park, abstained.
Basham said he doesn’t think the county’s financial situation is as dire as county and state officials say.
“I think we need urgent care, but not the emergency room,” he said. “And (the consent agreement) takes away the right of the people to elect their officials and hold them to task.”
Varga said she intended her abstention as a vote against a consent agreement.
“I would have preferred going with an emergency manager or mediation,” she said. “I kept hearing the county executive saying over and over that he wanted this as a tool for contract negotiations. Holding a hammer over somebody’s head isn’t a true negotiation process. I couldn’t vote for that in good conscience.”
After the vote, Wayne County Executive Warren Evans, who has called for a consent agreement, said his administration will negotiate in good faith with the county’s unions.
“Although a consent agreement will eventually give the county the ability to set the terms of employment, our preference is to reach agreements at the bargaining table,” he said in a statement.
Evans asked State Treasurer Nick Khouri on June 17 to declare a financial emergency in Wayne County and support his request to enter into a consent agreement.
Two weeks later, state officials decided there is probable financial distress in the county. A day later, Gov. Rick Snyder appointed an independent financial review team to examine the county’s books.
On July 21, the review team said it determined a financial emergency existed in Wayne County. The next day, Snyder formally agreed with the team’s findings.
He confirmed his determination on July 30, which gave the Wayne County Commission until 5 p.m. Thursday to choose one of four options for state intervention: a consent agreement, an emergency manager, mediation or Chapter 9 bankruptcy.
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