Press Release - March 1, 2013
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT: T. Henry (313) 868-1859
Downloadable PDF
Downloadable PDF
We the People of Detroit, under the united banner of Concerned Citizens Coalition of Detroit, demand to be treated with respect and fairness equal to ALL citizens in the State of Michigan. We invoke our rights as Americans and Citizens under the U.S. Constitution, State of Michigan Constitution and the City of Detroit Charter.
The Financial Review Team and Governor Snyder have misrepresented the facts in their report relative to the City of Detroit. We DO NOT NEED AN EXPANDED CONSENT AGREEMENT nor do we need a SECOND CONSENT AGREEMENT! We DO NOT NEED AN EMERGENCY FINANCIAL MANAGER for the following reasons:
- The City of Detroit has NOT missed a payroll
- The City of Detroit has NOT failed to make a bond principal payment
- Detroit has NOT failed to make a bond interest payment
- The City of Detroit has not drawn down on the cash being inappropriately held by the state signaling it has adequate cash to operate and is paying its bills & working towards resolving its nominal deficit
- Paraphrased statements by Tom Barrow- Mayoral Candidate, CPA & Municipal Finance Expert
Detroit Mayoral Candidate and former City of Detroit Corporation Counsel -Krystal Crittendon released a statement February 25, 2013 as a response to the Governor Snyder-appointed Financial Review Team findings (excerpts):
- The bottom line: the (Financial Review Team) Report provides no justification for the appointment of an emergency financial manager, especially when it makes no mention of $800 million in accounts receivable owed to the City as confirmed by State Treasurer Andy Dillon.” According to State Treasurer Andy Dillon, $800 million is owed to the City in accounts receivable and he also admitted on a local talk show that the State of Michigan still owes the City of Detroit over $224 million in outstanding Revenue Sharing that is owed. However, according to the City Charter, the Mayor is the only official that can authorize the City Corporation Counsel to seek recovery of these owed dollars. We strongly recommend that Governor Snyder work in concert with Mayor Bing to collect these outstanding debts and that the State of Michigan pays what it owes to the City of Detroit.
- The Financial Review Team criticized the City's Charter
It must be noted that the City's Charter was required to be, and was, actually, approved by the State of Michigan before it was placed on the ballot to be voted on by Detroit voters. It appears that the state-appointed advisory board is unaware that the State of Michigan signed off on the 2012 Charter for the City of Detroit before it was adopted by the residents of Detroit. We demand that the State of Michigan affirm their review and approval of the 2012 Charter for the City of Detroit prior to it being placed on the ballot for a vote by Detroiters.
- The City of Detroit negotiated over $150 million dollars in cost savings with the City's labor unions in December of 2011. These savings were verified by the accounting firm the State of Michigan forced the City of Detroit to retain to assist in deficit reduction measures. After the contracts were negotiated, the Governor then advised the Mayor NOT to submit these contracts to the City Council for approval. Had these contracts been approved in January of 2012, the City would have realized $150 million dollars in costs savings in 2012. The Financial Review Team's criticism of the City regarding whether the City has a plan in place to address its financial problems and the slow progress the City has made in implementing cost-saving measures is, therefore, the fault of the State of Michigan, and not the City. We recommend that the State of Michigan assume responsibility for their failure to support this cost saving measure with revenue generating capabilities.
- “The Financial Review Team criticized the City for failing to have a plan to address the cash crisis, or the City's $13.6 billion in long-term liabilities (25 year period). The Financial Review Team’s report contains a table of figures that supposedly comprise the City's long term liabilities. The table includes lines for ‘Non-General Obligation(s),’ ‘Other Post Employment Benefits Unfunded Actuarial Liabili (ties)’ and ‘Other.’ These three categories total just under $12 billion.
“We know these are not ‘General Obligations, or ‘General Retirement System Unfunded Actuarial Accrued Liabilities’, or ‘Police and Fire Retirement System Liabilities’, because those figures are found on other lines in the table. If they are obligations of the Water Department, they are funded by Water Department revenues, which are not part of the City's general revenues, nor are they debts of the City. Rather they would be debts of the Water Board, which Federal District Court Judge Cox has declared to be an entity separate and distinct from the City.
“This finding is problematic for several significant reasons. First, the long-term liabilities referenced in the report include debt which is not attributable to the general fund. Less than $2 billion is general fund debt; the rest is attributable to "other" sources, such as DWSD bond debt which is secured. Second, the State had to, and did, approve of the bond transactions which the state-appointed Financial Review Team now criticizes. Troubling is the fact that now the State will not give the City all of the money it borrowed—$50 million is being withheld from the City in escrow. We strongly urge Governor Snyder and the State of Michigan to cease and desist with any further reference to the $12 billion dollar pension obligation cost, due to this misrepresentation being used as a justifiable reason to impose an unelected dictator(i.e., Emergency Financial Manager) over the Citizens of Detroit. We also demand the immediate release of the $50 million dollars barrowed by the City that the State of Michigan is holding from the City in escrow.
- Even more troubling is the fact that the City cannot utilize the money it has received to help pay down any debt! The State of Michigan has required the City to spend tens of millions of dollars on experts (Miller Canfield, Milliman, Miller Buckfire, Ernst & Young and the like) selected by the State to tell us what we already know: the City of Detroit is experiencing financial difficulty. This is actually what we are paying the appointed Financial Review Team to tell us.
“Finally, the State made it necessary for the City to have to borrow money in the first place. The State eliminated revenue sharing for all Michigan cities, causing all cities, not just Detroit, to experience financial distress. Moreover, the State used approximately $2 billion in Federal stimulus dollars to bail itself out, and now enjoys a billion and a half dollar surplus, while cities across the State are suffering.
“[We] urge the Governor to take all of these factors into consideration as he weighs his decision regarding the appointment of an emergency financial manager for Detroit. “WE DO NOT CONSENT, WE WILL NOT BE DENIED EQUAL PROTECTIONS UNDER the LAW and WE WILL FIGHT EMERGENCY FINANCIAL MANAGEMENT in any and all forms!”
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Concerned Citizens Coalition of Detroit
Cecily McClellan- We the People of Detroit; Rev. D.A. Bullock – 13th Congressional District Chair & Delegation; Rev. Charles Williams- National Action Network (Detroit Chapter); Valerie Glenn- Free Detroit-No Consent; Theo Broughton- Hood Research; Tom Barrow- Mayoral Candidate & President of Citizens for Detroit’s Future; Krystal Crittendon- Mayoral Candidate; Fellow Citizens and Friends of the City of Detroit; Russ Bellant- Detroit Public Library Commission, Chair; Stephen Boyle, Occupy Detroit
Members of the public are welcome.
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