Sanilac County Employees' Retirement Plan

The Sanilac County Board of Commissioners serves as the plan's governing body, with a Pension Plan Board that includes Commissioner Bill Sarkella handling oversight. Day-to-day administration flows through the County Administrator's office under Nathan Roskey. The plan likely uses external consultants or a state-sponsored investment pool for asset management rather than internal staff — standard practice for Michigan counties of Sanilac's size. The Board's primary interface with capital markets comes through MAPERS, the statewide public pension association where trustees receive manager due-diligence education.

The county maintains a Retiree Health Funding Vehicle distinct from the pension trust, isolating OPEB liabilities from defined-benefit pension assets. This two-trust architecture means healthcare inflation risk does not commingle with pension funding status — a governance choice that gives the retirement plan cleaner actuarial optics. The road commission and mental health authority participate in their own OPEB arrangements under similar segregated structures. This segmentation is common among Michigan local governments responding to GASB 74/75 reporting requirements.

A plan serving a county of under 40,000 residents cannot meet most direct investment minimums. It likely accesses markets through pooled vehicles — Michigan CLASS short-term funds for cash management, state-sponsored MERS investment options for longer-duration assets, or insurance-company group annuity contracts. Private equity, venture capital, and direct real estate are structurally unavailable unless accessed via a state-level partnership or small-commitment fund-of-funds. The plan's investment policy statement, when filed with the state, typically authorizes mutual funds, commingled trusts, and fixed-income instruments exclusively.

Michigan's Municipal Employees' Retirement System offers investment and administrative services to local units, but counties may also administer their own plans under Act 314 of 1966. Without the plan's actuarial filings publicly available, the relationship to MERS cannot be confirmed — but most Michigan counties of Sanilac's population use MERS for at least investment management. The plan's MAPERS membership suggests an independent governance structure, since MERS-affiliated boards interact through that network alongside stand-alone plans.

Three distinct employer units participate: Sanilac County itself, the Sanilac County Road Commission, and the Sanilac County Community Mental Health Authority. Each is a separate legal entity with its own contribution rate set by actuarial valuation and labor agreements. The multi-employer structure means benefit tiers may differ across units, and withdrawal liability calculations vary by employer. This is a typical Michigan local government configuration, where road commissions and mental health authorities are quasi-independent but share a county retirement umbrella.