Warren C. Evans,
County Executive
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Wayne County is a public corporation, created under the Constitution and Statues of the State of Michigan, with general governmental powers and authority. Under Act 206 of the Michigan Public Acts of 1893, as amended, the County Treasurer is the officer responsible for collection of delinquent real property taxes which are returned to the County as uncollected on March 1 of each year. The Treasurer is also responsible for the application of the borrowing proceeds and the preservation of the primary and secondary security,
The County is a home rule charter county incorporated under Act 293, Public Acts of Michigan 1967, as amended, and is governed by an elected Chief Executive Officer, who is elected on an at-large basis for a 4-year term, and a 15 member County Commission elected for 2-year terms from districts of approximately equal population.
The County is the most populous county in the State of Michigan with a population of 1,829,582 according to the 2010 US Census. The County is located in the southeaster corner of Michigan's Lower Peninsula, encompassing approximately 623 square miles, with its southeastern boundary being the shoreline of portions of Lake St. Claire and the Detroit River. The County is made up of 9 townships, 34 cities and 34 public school districts.
Wayne County Commissioners today adopted a balanced $2.02 billion operating budget
for the 2023-24 fiscal year, with money set aside for county township initiative projects
involving roads, a therapeutic park for those with special needs, non-profit and small businesses.
The budget is balanced for the ninth consecutive year under the administration of County Executive Warren C. Evans and reflects wage and salary increases of 2.5 to 3 percent for sheriff’s deputies, county prosecutor’s staff and other county employees.
“We have lost key personnel to other counties for far too long and this past year, as
county finances continue to improve, we made it a priority to retain and attract quality
employees,” commission Chair Alisha Bell (D-Detroit) said.
In other highlights:
The budget includes $7 million for the county township initiative. The township initiative
covers road projects in the county’s nine townships, which have been underfunded for several recent years.
Some $150.000 will be distributed to the Western Wayne County Therapeutic Program,
which provides services for an estimated 8,000 special needs individuals from 25 county communities.
Non-profit and small businesses in Wayne County will receive $3 million in grants and
funding programs to be developed by the Economic Development Corporation.
Funding for the county pension system continues to rise and is now reaching a 65 percent funded level in contrast to the 44 percent recorded in 2013.
As has been recent practice, the budget also includes a projected budget for 2024-25 to
guide future spending.
The budget was adopted after presentations by22 departments and elected officials over 11 meetings held this summer with representatives of the county commission, county executive’s office, county elected officials and department heads. For the first time since the COVID-19 pandemic, several budget hearing meetings were held outside the county building, with sites in Detroit, Lincoln Park, Dearborn and Northville Township serving as hosts.
“I am pleased with the cooperation we received from everyone. Much appreciation to
County Executive Warren Evans and Deputy County Executive Assad Turfe for setting the collegial tone from the beginning, countywide elected officials, department heads, Terrance T. Adams, the county commission’s chief fiscal advisor/budget director, and his staff,” said Commissioner Jonathan C. Kinloch (D-Detroit), who headed the budget meetings as Chair of the Committee on Ways & Means. “This budget will do a lot in continuing to move the county forward.”
Wayne County Executive Warren Evans said Thursday he is hiring a new financial team of one chief financial officer and two deputy CFOs, recruiting from the cities of Detroit and Flint and a nonprofit museum, but the nominations are subject to county commission approval.
Evans is appointing John Wallace, a current Detroit financial official, to become the county's chief financial officer. He would replace Hughey Newsome, who resigned in November to become the chief financial officer for the Piston Group, founded by Chairman Vinnie Johnson.
Wallace comes from the city of Detroit, where he was the agency CFO for the city’s Public Infrastructure group that includes the Department of Transportation, Department of Public Works, Municipal Parking and the Airport.
“I am excited to join the Evans Administration and begin the next phase of my career with Wayne County,” Wallace said in a county-provided statement. “The county has made strong financial strides over the last several years and I look forward to being a part of its future and positively impacting the residents of Wayne County.”
Two other appointees are Flint Chief Financial Officer Robert Widigan, who would become the county's deputy chief financial officer, and Sharron Rose, the CFO for the Charles H. Wright Museum of African American History in Detroit who would become the deputy finance director of financial reporting and compliance for the Health, Human and Veterans Services Department.
Widigan has been in public service for almost 15 years, including working for the state of Michigan, Genesee County and city of Lansing. He had been chief financial officer of Flint since August 2021.
Two other appointees are Flint Chief Financial Officer Robert Widigan, who would become the county's deputy chief financial officer, and Sharron Rose, the CFO for the Charles H. Wright Museum of African American History in Detroit who would become the deputy finance director of financial reporting and compliance for the Health, Human and Veterans Services Department.
Widigan has been in public service for almost 15 years, including working for the state of Michigan, Genesee County and city of Lansing. He had been chief financial officer of Flint since August 2021.
Wayne County's finances haven't been problem-free. Last year, the county failed to submit an external audit to the state and missed a March 31 deadline. County officials got an extension from the Michigan Department of Treasury through May 5.
"It's a bad signal," Newsome told county commissioners at a March 30. "There's a significant risk this could lead to declination in our bond ratings."
The county ended up meeting the later deadline.
Standard and Poor's, a credit-rating agency, has given Wayne County an A rating, up from BBB+, Wayne County announced Friday.
"A credit rating is an informed opinion," advises the Standard and Poor's webpage explaining the rating scale.
"Credit ratings are forward-looking opinions about an issuer’s relative creditworthiness," the website explains. "They provide a common and transparent global language for investors to form a view on and compare the relative likelihood of whether an issuer may repay its debts on time and in full."
The scale runs from AAA ("Extremely strong capacity to meet financial commitments") to D on the low end (owing to "payment default on a financial commitment or breach of an imputed promise; also used when a bankruptcy petition has been filed).
Investment-grade ratings are BBB- and above.
Everything lower is considered speculative. An A rating indicates a "strong capacity to meet financial commitments, but somewhat susceptible to economic conditions and changes in circumstances," according to the rating scale.
The BBB rating signaled to investors that Wayne County had an "adequate capacity to meet financial commitments, but more subject to adverse economic conditions," according to the rating scale.
"The 'A' grade rating indicates stability of Wayne County’s ability to meet its long-term debt obligations, making the county more attractive to institutional bond investors," said Wayne County Executive Warren Evans, in a statement. "The rating increase means it will cost Wayne County less to finance long-term infrastructure and investment projects."
Evans added that "just six months ago, Moody's also upgraded Wayne County's rating to A3." Moody's is another top credit-rating agency.
Wayne County says that "the ratings the county currently enjoys are the highest since 2010," more than a decade ago.
Evans, who was elected in November 2014, noted that Michigan's largest county appeared then to be headed toward bankruptcy.
"When I first came to office, the common wisdom was that we could not possibly avoid going into bankruptcy," Evans said in the statement. "As it turns out, the common wisdom was wrong."
Evans' team says the county has "substantially" cut health care costs and long-term liabilities, increased its reserves, and is even building a new criminal justice complex.
Former county executive Robert Ficano's administration tried to build a jail in 2011, but was unable to complete it, halting construction in 2013. It stood half-built for years.
In 2018, under Evans the "fail jail," the two downtown jails, and Wayne County Circuit Court were all sold to Dan Gilbert's Bedrock, which has partnered with the county to build the new justice center off Interstate 75.
Chief Finical Officer
Chief Deputy Financial Officer