The Village of Dexter took steps Monday night to pay down its retiree health care debt - with a little help from the state.

Thanks to a 74 percent growth in population from 2,338 to 4,067 residents according to the 2010 census, it means a $110,000 increase in the village’s constitutional State of Michigan revenue-sharing payment.

So, by a unanimous vote, the Village Council committed $75,000 of these funds for the next five years to pay down the village’s retiree health care trust fund. Currently, the village’s retiree health care liability is estimated to be about $3.765 million,and about $290,000 has been put into the account.

“The village has a unique opportunity to take the burden off future generations by starting to put away money necessary to sustain the benefits promised to employees,” according to a memo from Courtney Nicholls, assistant village manager.

It was also noted that the village remains “committed to continuing to find ways to ensure that employee benefit costs are sustainable in both the short and long term,” the memo states.

Lisa Allmendinger is a regional reporter for AnnArbor.com. She can be reached at lisaallmendinger@annarbor.com. For more Dexter stories, visit our Dexter page.