Auditors report improved investment returns, recommend forwarding Wayne County retirement audits to commission

Sandra Allen, Legislative Auditor III, told the Wayne County Committee on Audit on Oct. 12, 2025, that independent external auditors issued clean opinions for both the defined benefit and defined contribution plans of the Wayne County Employees Retirement System for the fiscal years ended Sept. 30, 2024 and 2023.

Allen said the defined benefit plan's total assets rose by $100.3 million, a 10.1% increase from the prior year, driven by strong investment returns of 15.1% in fiscal 2024 compared with 10.3% in fiscal 2023. She said total liabilities remained essentially stable at about $2.9 million in 2024 compared with $3.1 million in 2023, and that the plan's fiduciary net position increased to 71.99% of total pension liability from 64.32% the prior year.

"We recommend that the OAG's Financial Assessment Limited Review Report of the Wayne County Employees Retirement System defined benefit plan financial statements for the years ended 09/30/2024 and 2023 be forwarded to the Wayne County Commission for receipt and filing," Allen said.

Allen also presented the audit review for the defined contribution plan, saying total assets increased to $516.2 million, a rise of $77.4 million from the prior year. She said additions and deductions reflected typical participant activity and that net appreciation in fair value of investments was $94.5 million for fiscal 2024, up from $47.4 million the prior year. She repeated the recommendation that the OAG's limited review report for the defined contribution plan be forwarded to the county commission to receive and file.

Robert Gurden, Executive Director of Wayne County Retirement, and Pat Pickett, Department Executive, attended virtually and thanked the committee for the opportunity to answer questions; no substantive follow-up questions were recorded in the committee discussion.

Allen told the committee that both plans included a $1.6 million stipend benefit paid to pre-Medicare-eligible retirees in both years, and that the auditors found the statements to be presented in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles.

The committee did not record a formal roll-call vote on the auditors' recommendations during the meeting. The auditors' written recommendations were placed on the agenda for the committee's consideration and, per the auditors' request, to be forwarded to the Wayne County Commission for receipt and filing.

The presentation and the auditors' recommendations conclude the committee's review of the retirement system audits for fiscal years 2023 and 2024.