State officials are summoning outside auditors to scrutinize Wayne County's finances amid continued questions about Executive Robert Ficano's plan to shrink the deficit, the Detroit News reports.
The move comes one month after Ficano presented a five-year plan to eliminate a $155 million deficit to the state.
Ficano wants to shuttle unused grant money into a fund to shrink the county's deficit. The plan would generate about $60 million over three years. Some consider it creative and groundbreaking. Others question its legality and say it would encourage the county to reduce services to guarantee a surplus.
Many county officials learned of the audit request Friday, and it caught some off guard. Some said the request shows the state isn't ready to sign off on the deficit plan and could be leery.
"I'm totally shocked," said Auditor General Willie Mayo. "I thought we were moving along quite well on getting the state to buy into the deficit elimination plan recently approved by the commissioners."
