Post by Logan on Feb 24, 2016 0:47:20 GMT -6
Detroit — Mayor Mike Duggan offered a mix of good and bad in his third State of the City address Tuesday night.
He led off with a $491 million deficit that’s looming in the city’s pension funds. The massive legacy costs as of June 30, 2014, mean that if the city takes no action to reduce the deficit, the general fund will have to contribute $83 million more a year to the two funds, starting in 2024.
But the news wasn’t all troubling. There were key accomplishments of his administration, he said, including reductions in violent crime and homicides, improved public safety response, and upgrading of bus service and streetlighting. Other goals, he said, include continuing blight removal and demolition efforts, adding jobs, cutting car insurance rates and quality schools, for which he reiterated the urgency of restoring an elected school board.
Saying “we are not going to panic” over the pension fund deficit, he added his administration is bringing in an expert to analyze estimates carved out during the bankruptcy process and that $20 million over two years from the city’s budget surplus will be directed toward bringing the deficit down.
Read more: www.detroitnews.com/story/news/local/detroit-city/2016/02/23/duggan-detroit-speech/80782866/
He led off with a $491 million deficit that’s looming in the city’s pension funds. The massive legacy costs as of June 30, 2014, mean that if the city takes no action to reduce the deficit, the general fund will have to contribute $83 million more a year to the two funds, starting in 2024.
But the news wasn’t all troubling. There were key accomplishments of his administration, he said, including reductions in violent crime and homicides, improved public safety response, and upgrading of bus service and streetlighting. Other goals, he said, include continuing blight removal and demolition efforts, adding jobs, cutting car insurance rates and quality schools, for which he reiterated the urgency of restoring an elected school board.
Saying “we are not going to panic” over the pension fund deficit, he added his administration is bringing in an expert to analyze estimates carved out during the bankruptcy process and that $20 million over two years from the city’s budget surplus will be directed toward bringing the deficit down.
Read more: www.detroitnews.com/story/news/local/detroit-city/2016/02/23/duggan-detroit-speech/80782866/