Pending the approval of Governor Snyder, the city of Benton Harbor is no longer under any state oversight. With a unanimous vote, the Receivership Transition Advisory Board voted Thursday to terminate the city’s receivership and move it back to local control. City Manager Darwin Watson says it’s a win for the city, but they’re not yet out of the woods financially and the biggest challenge remains being fiscally responsible.
“We’ve got some obligations we’ve got to pay,” Watson cautioned. “We have pension payments to pay, we have obligations from times gone past, and we have an emergency loan we have to pay back.” He added, though, the city has come “a long way” since the state took over in 2010 with two emergency managers over four years. The RTAB has had the final say on all financial decisions by the city for the past two years. Watson says losing the RTAB is a bit bittersweet, as the board has been very helpful to him.
Mayor Marcus Muhammad issued a statement after the vote thanking the RTAB “for its professionalism in transitioning the City of Benton Harbor from Emergency Management to local control.” He added he’s looking forward to continuing to work with the governor and State Treasury “to ensure financial solvency.”
