What Wayne Commission Vote Means for Your Tax Bill

Wayne County taxpayers won’t have to pay a one-time property tax levy to make a court-ordered $49 million payment to under-funded county pension plans for about 5,500 county retirees.

Despite objections by unions and some commissioners, the Wayne County Commission voted, 10-4, Thursday to spare taxpayers the pain of the tax, The Detroit News reports. The proposed tax, which Wayne County Executive Warren Evans preferred, would have cost the owner of a home with a $100,000 market value an extra $62 a year.

Instead, the commissioners voted to take the money from the county’s $78 million Delinquent Revolving Tax Fund. Critics said tapping into the revolving to make the pension payments will only add to the county’s $70 million annual structural deficit.

The pension plan is under-funded by about $910.5 million, according to actuarial reports. » Read more on The Detroit News.

Photo via Flickr user DonkeyHotey