In a recent Detroit Free Press op-ed, University of California-Berkeley Professor Robert Reich places the blame for the city of Detroit’s bankruptcy on the “mostly white” residents of Oakland County.

“But Detroit is really a model for how wealthier and whiter Americans escape the costs of public goods they would otherwise share with poorer and darker Americans,” Reich wrote. “ … But one thing is for certain: A very large and prosperous group close by won’t sacrifice a cent — the mostly white citizens of neighboring Oakland County.”

The reaction of one Oakland County official was that Reich, a former U.S. Secretary of Labor, didn’t know much about his chosen topic.

“That piece is clearly misinformed,” said Robert Daddow, deputy Oakland County executive. “He doesn’t understand what he is talking about.”

By all accounts, the state and Oakland County are major stakeholders in Detroit. Here’s some things Reich overlooked about how county and state taxpayers help fund Detroit.

No. 1: People who work in the city but live elsewhere — such as Oakland County — pay a city income tax. That income tax for non-residents is 1.2 percent, compared to the 2.4 percent that residents of Detroit pay. The city income tax brings in $248 million and accounts for 19.2 percent of the city’s revenue.

No. 2: Detroit has a special deal with casino revenues. There are 22 other cities in Michigan that have casinos operating within their boundaries, but Detroit is the only city that can collect a “wagering tax” from casinos. That amounted to $181.4 million in 2012, or 13.5 percent of the city's revenue. Many of those bets, undoubtedly, were placed by Oakland County residents.

No. 3: Detroit is budgeted to receive $140.5 million in money taken from sales tax revenue that is collected from residents all across the state — including Oakland County — in the form of revenue sharing, which will account for 14.1 percent of the city’s revenue in fiscal 2015.

No. 4: Oakland County and its residents financially support several things that help the region, including the city of Detroit. Oakland County taxpayers voted to support a three-county millage that goes to fund the Detroit Zoo, which is located within Oakland County in the city of Huntington Woods, as well as a millage for the Detroit Institute of Arts.

Oakland County has also given $500,000 a year to Automation Alley for the past 14 years. Automation Alley is a technology business association that supports that industry, including businesses and institutions located in the city of Detroit.

The state of Michigan will spend more money in 2015 on trying to catch up on underfunding for the public school employees pension liabilities and retirement health care than it will spend on the Michigan Department of Corrections.

Michigan is planning on spending $1.937 billion to catch up on underfunding for the Michigan Public School Employees Retirement System and another $880 million to catch up on public school employee retiree health care costs.

The state’s 2015 budget for corrections is $2.040 billion.

In 2013, the state underfunded its annual costs for pension and retiree health care for public school employees. The state only paid 70 percent of the anticipated costs for pensions that year and 66 percent of the anticipated costs for retiree health care.

The MPSERS’ pension has $25.8 billion in unfunded liabilities. Retiree health insurance benefits are also provided by the system and the value of benefits under current policies amounts to an estimated $13.4 billion exposure.

“Catching up on pension underfunding is a serious problem that’s crowding out other priorities,” said James Hohman, assistant director of fiscal policy for the Mackinac Center for Public Policy. “The state should offer defined-contribution retirement plans in order to contain this problem.”

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See also:

Where $100 Million Buys Little: The Teacher Pension System

Oakland: The County That Could (Reform its Pensions)

How Cities Are Solving Their Pension Problems - and the Bill That Makes It Easier

What Will Cities Do To Solve Their Pension Problems?

The Worst Funded Pension Systems In Michigan

Michigan Teacher Pension System Liabilities Rise Again

Michigan Taxpayers Paying More Money For Fewer State Workers

How Michigan Can Fix Its Pension Problems

Pension Costs Mean Tighter Budgets For Classrooms, Taxpayers

Commentary: Shifting School Employees To a 401(k) Is the Most Important Thing