Governor confirms financial emergency in Wayne County

LANSING, Mich. – Wayne County has a week to decide how it will address its financial emergency.

Gov. Rick Snyder on Thursday confirmed his earlier determination that a financial emergency currently exists in Wayne County. Under Public Act 436 of 2012, the Local Financial Stability and Choice Act, the county commission now has seven days (until 5 p.m. on Thursday, Aug. 6, 2015) to pass a resolution selecting one of the four statutory options to address the emergency; a consent agreement, an emergency manager, neutral evaluation, or Chapter 9 bankruptcy.

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Snyder initially determined that a financial emergency existed on July 22, following a review of the county's finances, originally requested by Wayne County Executive Warren Evans.

Wayne County has about 1.7 million residents and is mired under a $52 million structural deficit. Property tax revenue in the county has declined by more than $156 million since 2007, while total expenditures increased by more than $50 million, according to the preliminary review.

Read back: Wayne County in 'probable financial stress'

"I remain in agreement with the conclusion of the independent financial review team's report," Snyder said. "As I noted previously, of­ficials have taken steps to begin addressing the county's crisis, but there can be no disputing that a financial emergency currently exists and must be addressed swiftly and surely to ensure residents continue to receive the services they need and deserve and the county can continue its economic recovery."