Money was on the minds of Sanilac County Road Commissioners Wednesday morning as they heard their annual audit report for 2017. The Road Commission had general revenues of around $17.5 million dollars and expenditures of about $16.1 million dollars for a net balance of $1.4 million. Total revenues were up 24 percent from the previous year, thanks in part to the increased funding for the Michigan Transportaion Fund.
In other board news, Commissioners received the bad news they were already aware of, that their OPEB fund, funding healthcare benefits for retirees, is seriously underfunded. Like many other Road Commissions in the state, Sanilac County is required to submit a corrective action. Staff said they began putting $50,000 a month away the past several months and have built a trust fund of over $350,000. They are $11 million dollars short of the recommended amount, but do have funding in place to pay current retiree healthcare benefits.
