LANSING, MI— Thirty-five Upper Peninsula municipalities and road commissions are getting state grants to fund their retirement systems.
The money comes through the Protecting MI Pension Grant Program. Under the Fiscal Year 2022-23 budget, the Michigan Department of Treasury was appropriated dollars to establish and operate a program for qualified retirement systems that were underfunded as outlined in state law. Eligible cities, villages, townships, counties, and road commissions were encouraged to review their retirement system funding and apply for a grant by mid-June.
The City of Norway was granted $3,732,854.
“We were very excited to receive the news that we would be a recipient of the Protecting MI Pension Grant Program,” said Dan Stoltman, Norway City Manager. “Helping us get to the 60 percent funded status makes the light at the end of the tunnel a little closer and a lot brighter for our future.”
The City Ishpeming is getting $1,776,032.
“We are truly committed to our current and former employees, and once the audit revealed our system was underfunded, we knew we had to take care of the City of Ishpeming retirees, who served this community and its residents, so they can have a secure retirement,” said Craig Cugini, Ishpeming City Manager. “The first step in turning things around included bonding our pension with taxable bonds to help fund the program, bringing us to 95 percent in MERS funding, which set us apart from other municipalities facing a similar situation. And then when the Michigan Treasury grant became available, we recognized the funding opportunity as yet another way to ensure our former and current employees are taken care of.”
“The City of Sault Ste. Marie Police and Firefighters Pension is very pleased to be awarded $2,636,455 from the Protecting MI Pension Grant Program,” said Kristin M. Collins, finance director/treasurer of the city of Sault Ste. Marie. “The award is the full amount of our request and the maximum allowable amount that would bring the fund out of underfunded status. While funding levels have improved over the past five years, increasing from 52 percent to 57 percent, it’s a slow climb and this infusion will provide a boost that the fund really needed.”
In a press release, Governor Gretchen Whitmer said, “After a lifetime of hard work, Michigan seniors deserve to retire with dignity. Today’s Protecting MI Pension Grants will ensure that Michiganders who served our communities as police officers, firefighters, sanitation workers, and in so many other invaluable professions, will receive the stable, secure retirement that they earned.”
Upper Peninsula entities that received grant funding are as follows:
Baraga County Road Commission- $159,316
Baraga, village of- $770,791
Bates Township- $70,486
Chippewa County Road Commission- $1,991,054
Crystal Falls, City of- $346,242
Delta County Road Commission- $624,052
DeTour, village of- $116,718
Dickinson County- $55,783
Dickinson County Road Commission- $1,276,803
Gaastra, City of- $23,597
Gladstone, City of- $259,619
Gogebic County Road Commission- $364,250
Iron County Road Commission- $851,132
Iron Mountain, City of- $3,237,632
Iron River, City of- $629,183
Ironwood, City of- $1,158,344
Ishpeming, City of- $1,776,032
Keweenaw County Road Commission- $428,698
Lake Linden, village of- $156,174
L'Anse, village of- $833,070
Luce County- $395,470
Luce County Road Commission- $1,765,542
Manistique, City of- $2,384,317
Marquette County Road Commission- $3,626,838
Marquette, City of- $704,412
Negaunee, City of- $969,575
Newberry, village of- $29,140
Norway, City of- $3,732,854
Ontonagon County Road Commission- $2,968,071
Ontonagon, village of- $1,952,964
Sault Ste Marie, City of- $2,636,455
Schoolcraft County- $510,929
Schoolcraft County Road Commission- $1,817,235
St. Ignace, City of- $370,873
Wakefield, City- $260,102
