Gov. Rick Snyder says the city of Flint no longer faces a financial emergency. That means a state board will oversee the transition back to local control of the city’s finances.
The governor says Flint has shed more than $600 million in long-term liability costs. And the state just authorized a loan to eliminate a $7 million deficit in the city’s general fund.
“Obviously, the goal is to maintain the financial stability going forward for a local unit of government. So that’s the expectation here,” Michigan Department of Treasury spokesperson Terry Stanton said of the process of transitioning back to local control.
Stanton credits the state’s revamped emergency manager law for a number of cities shedding state control in recent years.
“I think it’s partially the solution, the act that gives managers the ability to go in and affect change – lasting change – and in conjunction with, of course, the improving economy. And that’s always helpful for a local unit of government.”
Flint has been under state receivership since Snyder declared a financial emergency there in 2011.
Lincoln Park is now the only Michigan municipality with an emergency manager – although several cities and school districts are still in some form of state receivership.
