Wayne County making big cuts to prevent state takeover

Cash-strapped Wayne County tries to avoid state takeover with new deficit elimination plan

DETROIT – Fitch Ratings puts Wayne County's budget deficit at more than $220 million and just issued what it calls a negative watch for the county.

Listed among Fitch's myriad reasons for the watch is "rapid financial deterioration."

On Tuesday morning, Wayne County Commissioners will be presented with a brand new deficit elimination plan. As one insider tells Local 4, the deficit elimination plan is the last stop before the state of Michigan sends in an emergency manager to fix the financial mess. That's something Gov. Rick Snyder said could be a possibility.

Read back: Wayne County's financial woes to be addressed soon

At this hour, the plan is confidential, but sources tell Local 4 it is like nothing that's been proposed in the past. For starters, there are nine collective bargaining units with contracts up this year. Expect those contracts to radically change.

Local 4 also is told to expect a page out of Detroit Emergency Manager Kevyn Orr's playbook which is to move some Wayne County workers or potential retirees to the Obamacare healthcare exchanges.

Proposing all this is one thing. Actually getting it past the Commission will be something else entirely.


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