Port Huron Makes Significant Progress with Funding Retiree Plans

The City of Port Huron is making major progress in addressing unfunded retiree benefits. Changes to retiree health plans have resulted in significant cost savings and have moved the funding level from 39% to 74%.

The pension system for city employees has also made great improvements in its funding levels. In just the past two years, the pension plan has moved from a 49% funding with an $83 million liability to 86% with a $23 million liability.

In a letter to the Mayor and City Council, Port Huron City Manager James Freed said that healthcare plan reforms and the pension restructuring have achieved a combined savings of nearly $89 million. 

Freed said, “These dollars saved can now be used over the coming decades to allow our children the freedom to build their own future, free from the unfunded liabilities of the past generation.”

A report from CBIZ Retirement Plan Services said that investment returns were nearly four times what was expected for the fiscal year ending June 30th of 2021.

Reporting for WGRT – Jennie McClelland

Light Up a Life this Christmas

The VNA and Blue Water Hospice Light Up a Life campaign is running now through the end of December. Donations to the campaign will be represented by a light on the Hospice Home’s Tree of Remembrance.

The Blue Water Hospice Home in Marysville houses the Tree of Remembrance.  Each light on the tree symbolizes the life, hope, and dreams of someone who has passed away, and those who lovingly cared for them.

Heidi Benner, VNA & Blue Water Hospice Volunteer Coordinator, said, “Our Light Up a Life campaign came about as a special way for family and friends of current or former patients to pay tribute to them while giving back. Over the years, it’s grown to not only honor patients, but also the staff and volunteers who provided care and comfort.”

The tree will be lit daily in the Tom Lock Memorial Observatory of the Blue Water Hospice Home December 1- 31st from 5 PM – 7 AM, and donations in honor of a loved one can be made to the campaign at www.vnabwh.org/donate.

Reporting for WGRT – Jessie Wiegand

Tunnel Tragedy 50th Anniversary Memorial Planned for Dec. 11

It has been fifty years since the Lake Huron Water Tunnel Explosion in which 22 men died in a tunnel beneath Lake Huron. A memorial will be held on Saturday, December 11th at 2:30 p.m. at Fort Gratiot County Park off of Metcalf Road in Fort Gratiot.

There is a permanent memorial at the park commemorating the lives lost in the tragedy in 1971. The memorial will be a solemn event intended for those who were affected by the tragedy as well as the general public. An effort was made to contact the surviving family members.

The tunnel tragedy occurred while the men were working on the water line that was built to distribute water to Detroit and Flint. An enormous explosion occurred on one end of the tunnel, sending shockwaves to workers four miles from the initial spark, killing 21 workers immediately and one worker dying from injuries later.

The memorial is sponsored by LiUNA, the construction trades union. Most of the victims of the tragedy were union tradesmen.

Reporting for WGRT – Jennie McClelland

Bigger and Better Jurassic Quest Coming to Novi

Jurassic Quest is coming to Novi’s Suburban Collection Showplace from December 10th through 19th. The exhibit was at the DTE Energy Music Theater in Clarkston over the summer, but if you missed it, you have another chance to experience the thrill.

The DTE show was a drive-through experience, but this one is a walk-through, so families can get even closer to the action. There will be more than 100 realistic dinosaurs, some automated. It is a much bigger event than the DTE show.

The indoor event offers dinosaur-themed rides, live dinosaur shows, interactive science, and art activities. There is also a “triceratots” area for the youngest guests, along with bounce houses and inflatable attractions.

Ticket prices start at $19. There are add-on fees for certain rides and other activities. Tickets can be purchased online with reserved days and times.

Novi’s Suburban Collection is about a 90-minute drive from the Blue Water Area. 

To learn more, visit their website here:

https://www.jurassicquest.com/

Reporting for WGRT- Jennie McClelland

State Treasury Looking for Tax-Prep Volunteers

Good with numbers? Want to help seniors, people with disabilities, and those who have limited English speaking ability? Michigan’s State Treasury is looking for volunteers to help fellow citizens with tax preparation. The Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) program is urgently recruiting volunteers in advance of the upcoming tax filing season.

State Treasurer Rachael Eubanks said, “Becoming a VITA Volunteer is an opportunity to make a difference in your community. Tax prep can be stressful. Helping your neighbors through the VITA program provides high impact help in a very meaningful and rewarding manner.”

Volunteers help low-income or otherwise vulnerable tax-payers save $19.5 million each year. They also help tax-payers claim the tax credits for which they are eligible.

Brian Rakovitis, Director of Economic Inclusion at the Community Economic Development Association of Michigan (CEDAM) said, “…without access to affordable tax preparation services, Michiganders could leave millions of state and federal refunds on the table each year.”

Learn more:

To Volunteer

https://www.opssupport-surveys.com/se/2511374571F86012

Volunteer Information

https://www.irs.gov/individuals/irs-tax-volunteers

Taxpayer Assistance Information

https://www.irs.gov/individuals/free-tax-return-preparation-for-qualifying-taxpayers

https://www.irs.gov/individuals/irs-tax-volunteers

Reporting for WGRT – Jennie McClelland

Julie Alley Awarded Gerstacker Fellowship

Julie Alley, Principal at Garfield Elementary School in Port Huron, has been named a Gerstacker Fellow. Alley is one of only fourteen educators chosen statewide.

The Gerstacker Fellow Program is administrated through Saginaw Valley State University. Part of the designation entails a year of leadership training including a trip to the Netherlands and Germany to learn about international educational systems.

Over 160 educators have participated in the Gerstacker Fellow Program, meeting monthly to learn about leadership practices, organizational leadership, communication, cognitive coaching, finance and education with a global perspective. The program is working with its 15th cohort.

Alley has been teaching for eighteen years, spending the last five years as an administrator for Port Huron Schools.

Port Huron Schools Superintendent Theo Kerhoulas said, “This program supports our belief at Port Huron Schools that we have the best when it comes to educators and leadership at our schools. We are proud of this accolade for Mrs. Alley and eager to see the results of the training she will gain from this experience.”

Congratulations to Julie Alley.

Reporting for WGRT – Jennie McClelland