ONTONAGON — Local communities were among more than 123 Michigan communities to receive state aid for pension funds.

The grants come from the Protecting MI Pension Grant Program, which the state created to aid underfunded retirement systems for cities, villages, townships, counties and road commissions.

The Village of Ontonagon received $1,952,964 to go towards Municipal Employees Retirement System (MERS) payments. Ontonagon took over the pension obligations when the village sold the hospital to Aspirus in 2007, which coincided with a lowering of Ontonagon’s millage rate.

From $8.6 million, the village is now down to somewhere between $5 and $6 million, Village Manager Willie DuPont said. He won’t receive the actual number until MERS completes its next actuarial figures next June.

“I don’t think it ends our problem, but it’s a huge step,” he said.

The village will also be eligible for the third round of grant funding, which will be released later this year.

“We still need help, so we’re going to take every step we possibly can,” DuPont said.

The new money from the state will be able to reduce the size of the village’s payments, though probably not for close to a year, DuPont said. The village will continue to make pension payments to former Aspirus employees until around 2040.

“It’s just a matter of how much those payments will be,” he said. “The funds from the state will reduce those payments. It takes some of the burden off of us.”

He does not foresee the village seeking another millage to try to address the pension debt. Village and county voters both rejected proposals in 2022, which came after the state had included $3.1 million towards the pensions as part of the 2023 budget.

“I think that trying to pass a millage is a very tough call,” he said. “The people in our area are already paying very high property taxes, and the people in the communities around us weren’t in favor of helping us.”

Other Copper Country entities receiving grants for MERS:

• Baraga County Road Commission, $159,316

• Village of Baraga, $770,791

• Keweenaw County Road Commission, $428,698

• Village of Lake Linden, $156,174

• Village of L’Anse, $833,070

• Ontonagon County Road Commission, $2,968,071