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Oakland County committee advances funding to continue Savvy student‑debt assistance program after milestone met
Summary
The committee voted to recommend to finance continuation funding for the county's performance‑based partnership with Savvy Solutions PBC after staff reported the program enrolled roughly 5,000 users since inception and reached a milestone of just under 2,500 new enrollments in the performance period, yielding an estimated $33 million in projected forgiveness.
Oakland County staff asked the Legislative Affairs & Government Operations Committee to forward a funding authorization to finance to continue the county's performance‑based partnership with Savvy Solutions PBC, a student‑debt assistance service the county helped sponsor.
Staff said the program has registered approximately 5,000 users since it began and that, during the latest performance period, the initiative recorded just under 2,500 new enrollments that triggered the milestone payment request. Staff reported roughly $33 million in projected forgiveness associated with participant enrollments and said about $60 million in total debt has been managed through the Savvy program since county involvement. County staff emphasized Oakland County is not forgiving debt itself but connects residents to existing federal and other forgiveness programs; Savvy assists users with paperwork and program navigation.
Tony Rafa of Savvy attended to answer program‑performance questions. Commissioners asked for geographic breakdowns of participants (by city, ZIP or district) to help outreach and messaging; staff said zip codes are collected and they would look into what disaggregated reporting can be shared while respecting data‑sharing rules. Commissioners also noted the urgency: federal SAVE protections are changing and borrowers need to enroll in alternatives by July 1 to avoid resumption of loan payments.
The committee voted, recorded in the meeting, with five yays and one nay to recommend the appropriation to the finance committee.
Why it matters: With student loan collections restarting nationally, the county's partnership aims to connect residents to forgiveness and repayment options; continued funding signals county support for ongoing enrollment and outreach.
Next steps: The item moves to the finance committee for final appropriation decisions; staff will follow up with commissioners on the possibility of district‑level participant reports.
