Wayne County, Mich., the home of once-bankrupt Detroit, won release from its consent agreement with the state as its finances improved after 14 months of oversight, Bloomberg News reported yesterday. The county received formal notification from the state approving its request to be released from the pact, the county said yesterday. Michigan Treasurer Nick Khouri found the county met terms of the agreement by fixing its deficit and restoring fiscal stability. In June 2015, County Executive Warren Evans asked the state to declare a financial emergency to help Michigan’s largest county fix its budget crisis. He requested the consent pact, an initial step toward state oversight. That agreement, which became effective in August 2015, allowed the county to avoid bankruptcy. At the time, the county of 1.8 million residents faced a $52 million annual deficit because of rising costs and a declining population. Since then, county officials moved to reduce retiree health care bills, cut labor costs and turned once-chronic deficits into surpluses.
