The Michigan Department of Treasury officially signed off on a decision Monday to give the city of Flint more control of day to day operations.
Flint was put in receivership in 2011 by Governor Rick Snyder. Earlier this month the Receivership Transition Advisory Board overseeing city decisions passed a resolution to give city officials more control.
Ron Leix is with the Michigan Department of Treasury. He said the treasurer's signature was the final step needed to verify the resolution.
“The RTAB is still existence. The only thing that the RTAB does now is in state law which includes reviewing proposed and amended budgets, request to issue debt, and review proposed collective bargaining agreements.”
Leix said there is not a timeline for handing back full control to Flint.
“How this typically works is the Flint RTAB will meet and they will entertain a resolution to recommend that the city be removed from receivership and the RTAB be dissolved.”
In a written statement Mayor Karen Weaver said the approval moved the city quote “a step closer to our ultimate goal, which is home rule.”
The Mayor’s full statement is below:
Flint, MI – Mayor Karen Weaver issued the following statement today after she learned the state treasurer has approved the changes City officials requested earlier this month, granting the mayor and Flint City Council more governance authority and reducing the authority of the state-appointed Receivership Transition Advisory Board (RTAB):
“This is an exciting development for the City of Flint," said Mayor Weaver. "We have been waiting for this for years. I want to thank Governor Snyder and State Treasurer, Nick Khouri, for approving our request to bring the City of Flint a step closer to our ultimate goal, which is home rule.”
The state treasurer officially approved the formal recommendation submitted by the RTAB to rescind Emergency Order 20, which restores authority back to City of Flint officials for day-to-day operations effective immediately. While a significant step toward the relationship between the City of Flint and the RTAB being dissolved, pursuant to Public Act 436, the board still has statutory powers and may be utilized to approve budgets and collective bargaining agreements.