Deal Made Over Macomb County Sinkhole Funding

The Snyder Administration has found $3 million that will be re-purposed to fix the sinkhole.

Michigan State Capitol building on a sunny day

Jake Neher/WDET
Gov. Rick Snyder

Macomb County will get money to work on a giant sinkhole.

A deadlock in the Legislature was holding up the money, and it also delayed getting $100 million for Flint in the same budget bill.

The House and the Senate could not agree on whether the money for Macomb should be a grant or a loan. Then, Gov. Rick Snyder’s administration found $3 million in a fund for fixing roads that will be re-purposed to fix the sinkhole.

“It’s not necessarily where we expected it,” said state Rep. Jeff Yaroch (R-Richmond). “But, it seems reasonable. This fund was set up for issues such as this.”

Snyder declared a state of emergency in Fraser in January. The sinkhole was caused by a sewer line collapse, and forced two dozen families from their home on Christmas Eve. 

The Legislature does not need to vote before the money is given to Macomb. 

Authors

  • Rick Pluta
    Rick Pluta has been covering Michigan’s Capitol, government, and politics since 1987.
  • Cheyna Roth is the co-host and creator of WDET's state politics podcast, MichMash. She has been an audio journalist for almost a decade, covering major events like presidential elections, college scandals, the Michigan Legislature and more, appearing on NPR and across Michigan public radio stations. Cheyna is also a senior producer and podcast host for Slate.com, having produced and hosted shows like Political Gabfest, The Waves, and What Next TBD. Also an author, Cheyna has written two true crime books and her written work has appeared in Broadly, Slate, and MLive, among others.