Hamtramck Struggles with First Budget Since End of State Financial Oversight
Mayor says pushing off legacy costs doesn’t mean they go away
A sign welcoming guests to the city of Hamtramck.
After five years under State financial oversight, the City of Hamtramck is officially out of receivership. But regaining the ability to govern itself doesn’t necessarily mean there are no additional financial hurdles. Mayor of Hamtramck Karen Majewski tells WDET’s Amy Miller financial oversight by the State was positive AND negative.
“Although we have a fund balance right now, we’re gonna have to dip into it in this next year. So here we are, just being cut loose from State oversight and in our very first budget we’re looking at already dipping into the fund balance” -Karen Majewski
Majewski says retiree benefits and other legacy costs including health care, combined with a loss of municipal sharing from the State are partly to blame for the budget shortfall. She says the city manager and council are looking for opportunities to increase revenue.
Click on the audio link above to hear the entire interview
