Stop playing fast and loose with employees' penion dollars, state Court of Appeals justices tell Robert Ficano. Chrisine MacDonald has details in the Detroit News:
Robert FicanoWayne County's shaky finances took another blow Friday, when a court ruled it must repay $32 million that Executive Robert Ficano redirected from a pension fund used to pay bonuses to retirees.
Ficano and county commissioners in 2011 made the county's annual payment to the Wayne County Employees Retirement System by dipping into a fund for . . . an annual extra payment retirees have received since 1986 instead of cost-of-living increases.
Pension lawyers called the move illegal and the Court of Appeals agreed.
The ruling includes this vivid language:
"It was as if the County Board reached into the pockets of the Retirement System . . . and then handed the funds back to the Retirement System . . . pretending like it was County money and depriving the Retirement System of $32 million."
County officials expect to appeal, according to MacDonald, who adds:.
The ruling comes amid heightened scrutiny over the county's finances. The county faces a $167 million deficit, has hit at least four triggers for an emergency manager and this year must set aside $70 million to fund its retirement system -- a 20-percent increase from last year.
