State Responds to Request for Wayne County Financial Emergency

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The Michigan Department of Treasury will begin a preliminary review of Wayne County’s finances after County Executive Warren Evans asked the city to declare a financial emergency earlier this week.

The state has 30 days to conduct the review, The Detroit News reports.

State Treasurer Nick Khouri said the review “may be expedited in certain respects” because Evans expressed a sense of urgency in his letter requesting the review.

The county is wrestling with a $52 million structural deficit, stemming in part from what Khouri called in his letter to Evans a “substantially underfunded” pension system. Property tax revenues have also declined about $100 million annually since 2008.

• Related: Wayne County Exec Seeks Financial Emergency Declaration

“Early on, I said that I would make the process of solving the county’s financial crisis the least onerous as possible to our stakeholders,” Evans, who took office in January said in a statement Friday.

“Today, I stand firm on that position, and my entire administration understands that a collaborative approach is top priority,” the statement continued. “We will be inclusive while continuing to execute our recovery plan and nothing about my request to the state will change our approach.”

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