ALLEN PARK, Mich. – Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder announced the appointment of Joyce Parker as the emergency financial manager for the city of Allen Park.
State treasury officials meet Thursday to appoint the EFM for the city.
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"Joyce Parker has an outstanding track record of making the tough, but necessary financial decisions to address financial emergencies in both the city of Ecorse and with Highland Park Schools,' said State Treasurer Andy Dillon, chair of the Emergency Loan Board. "Throughout her time as an emergency manager, Joyce has worked collaboratively with local officials, citizens, and others to address financial crises and ensure delivery of services. I am certain that will continue in Allen Park."
Parker will continue in her role as EFM for the City of Ecorse, but will no longer serve as EFM for Highland Park Schools.
In a press release Snyder's office said, as the EFM in Ecorse, Parker addressed the city's financial emergency by reducing expenditures by more than $3 million annually, generating additional revenue, and restructuring and enhancing municipal services, including police, fire, public works, trash collection, and water and sewer services.
Parker's appointment comes after Gov. Snyder's announcement that a financial emergency exists in the city.
In a letter to the city's mayor and city council, Snyder said he had reviewed reports by the Allen Park Financial Review Team and determined that there wasn't a plan in place to solve the city's "serious" financial problem.
The city's problems including a more than $2 million annual payment on bonds related to failed movie studio.
"The financial emergency in the city of Allen Park is one which city officials do not appear to have the ability to address without the outside assistance of an emergency financial manager," Snyder wrote.
READ: Governor's letter on Allen Park's finances
Other cities with emergency financial managers are Flint, Pontiac, Ecorse and Benton Harbor.
The state suspended a law that gave managers much broader powers, including tearing up union contracts. Voters will decide whether to repeal it in November and until then Michigan is operating under a previous law in which the managers have fewer powers.