CHICAGO - Michigan withheld $11.3 million in revenue-sharing aid from Detroit this week as the cash-strapped city is eight months overdue in submitting its 2008 fiscal audit.
The city's total August revenue-sharing payment from the state was to be $43.6 million. The state released $32.3 million of the aid that was earmarked for debt-service payments and withheld the rest, according to the Treasury Department.
The state has withheld a total of $24.5 million to Detroit over the last five months because of the late audit, which was due in January.
Mayor Dave Bing said in a statement that the city would submit the completed 2008 audit by October and would release timely statements thereafter.
The city has been late with its financial audits for years, and rating agencies have consistently cited the delays as a credit problem. In March, under then-Mayor Ken Cockrel Jr., the city finally submitted its 2006-2007 audit, 14 months past its due date. The state released $42 million in withheld aid after Detroit submitted the audit.
Michigan makes revenue-sharing payments to local governments every other month. The state withheld $12 million from Detroit in April, $1.2 million in June, and $11.3 million in August, according to Treasury spokesman Terry Stanton.
The state is withholding the aid as the city faces a $300 million deficit. Bing this week cut nonunion employees' pay by 10% and said he would need to lay off up to 10% of the city's workforce and cut services in order to avoid running out of money by October.
