Emergency financial review denied

By Carolyn Marnon – The State of Michigan Department of Treasury has notified Mayor Susan M. Rowe that they will not conduct a preliminary review of the City of Wayne’s finances.
Mayor Rowe sent a letter to the Michigan Treasury Department dated August 9 asking them to conduct a financial review of Wayne as authorized by Public Act 436 of 2012.
Mayor Rowe, City Manager Lisa Nocerini, Police Chief Alan Maciag and Brian Camiller of Plante Moran met with Eric Scorsone, Senior Deputy State Treasurer and Nick Khouri, State Treasurer, on September 22 to discuss the financial situation of Wayne.
In a letter dated October 3, Mr. Scorsone determined that Wayne did not meet any of the 19 conditions identified in Section 4(1) of the Act. The City ended its fiscal year 2015 with a positive general fund balance of approximately $2.4 million. It was suggested that further cost saving measures that had been discussed to address Wayne’s projected decline of $1.95 million over fiscal years 2016 and 2017 include, but aren’t limited to, changing retiree healthcare to a stipend and labor negotiations to address legacy costs.
“We are in charge of our own destiny,” said Mayor Rowe at the conclusion of the October 4 city council meeting after she read the letter to those gathered.