CHICAGO — In his third annual state of the city address Wednesday evening, Detroit Mayor Dave Bing said he and Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder agree that an emergency manager is not the best option for the nearly broke city, but called on the state to offer “tangible” support to help stabilize the city’s cash position.
Bing seemed to indicate that a consent agreement with the state was likely, a move that would keep local officials in charge but enhance their powers, including over labor contracts.
Snyder late last year appointed a 10-member state team that includes Treasurer Andy Dillon to review Detroi’s finances.
The team will hold a public meeting in mid-March and recommend by the end of the month to Snyder whether to appoint an emergency manager, negotiate a consent agreement, or do nothing.
“Tonight we are at a critical and pivotal time like none in Detroit’s history,” Bing said during the speech, which was held at City Hall. “Regardless of the emergency manager law, Detroit must preserve its financial integrity and maintain control of its future.”
But the city needs the state’s help in several ways, which include approving newly crafted and tentative union agreements with the city’s 48 unions, as well as financial support and changes in legislation, according to the mayor. “In other words, we need tangible support,” Bing said.
Detroit has $42 million in cash this month and is expected to run out of money by early April, according to fiscal reports. It faces a $50 million shortfall by May. Some fiscal officials say the city will run out of money even if the new union agreements are ratified.
In his speech, Bing said the city had whittled away at its deficit and the number of employees, mayoral appointees and some services.
“But it’s not about cutting our way out of this,” he said. “It’s about redefining who we are as a city, how we operate as a municipality, and how we deliver core services to Detroiters who have stuck with the city, and those who are slowly but surely finding their way here.”
The mayor unveiled a few new proposals in the speech. One would create a new city-run authority to oversee and finance $150 million of capital projects for Detroit’s troubled lighting department.
Another would allow homeowners to purchase adjacent vacant city lots for $200, without even having to go downtown for the paperwork, and get a $200 voucher for building supplies.
