"Municipal bankruptcy" refers to a situation where a city or municipality is unable to pay back its debts and is granted legal protection to reorganize its finances. It means that the city has reached a point where it cannot meet its financial obligations and needs to seek help to manage its debts and possibly reduce them.
Full definition
Kevyn Orr, charged with guiding the collapsed Motor City out of the
largest municipal bankruptcy in U.S. history, said any outside assistance would be «great» but he is not banking on it.
He engineered a state takeover of the perpetually troubled city of Detroit, installing a hand - picked emergency manager who quickly filed the largest
municipal bankruptcy in U.S. history.
Now, she has asked an outside expert to prepare a legal brief that explores the process and history
of municipal bankruptcy in New York.
Detroit's odyssey through Chapter 9
municipal bankruptcy began on July 18, 2013, with major creditors girding for battle and has wound down in a flurry of settlements.
Bondholders and bond insurers argued that Stockton's refusal to demand pension concessions shows that it failed to negotiate in «good faith» with creditors, a prerequisite
for municipal bankruptcy.
A key issue emerging in many
current municipal bankruptcies involves payments owed to pension funds, which could affect thousands of individuals and play a role in personal bankruptcy filings.
Detroit Emergency Manager Kevyn Orr addresses the media about the ruling on the
Detroit municipal bankruptcy while Michigan Governor Rick Snyder (L) listens during a news conference in the Theodore J. Levin U.S. Courthouse in Detroit, Michigan, November 7, 2014.
Last year, Jefferson County, which includes Birmingham, filed for what was at the time the largest U.S.
municipal bankruptcy claim after losing over $ 3 billion in sewer debt.
After all, the absolute number of
municipal bankruptcies recorded each year has not increased in the wake of insolvency declarations from Stockton, San Bernardino, Jefferson County, and Detroit.
But if they dug in their heels and resisted proposals to restructure their debt, a bankruptcy chapter for states should allow (
as municipal bankruptcy already does) for a proposal to be «crammed down» over their objections under certain circumstances.
State lawmakers were looking for suggestions to
prevent municipal bankruptcies in New York state at a hearing in Syracuse Tuesday on the first stop for the New York State Senate Standing Committee on Local Government.
Fossett and Purtell point to the
recent municipal bankruptcies in Jefferson County, Alabama and Harrisburg, Pa as recent examples of local governments taking on complex revenue deals to fund unwieldy projects.
Chapter 9 of the bankruptcy code
covers municipal bankruptcies, with «municipalities» defined as a «political subdivision [counties, cities or towns] or public agency or instrumentality of a State», but not states themselves.
Steve Acquario, with the New York Association of counties, says his lobby and advocacy group has already begun researching laws
governing municipal bankruptcies, in case struggling counties in New York have need of guidance.
A
chaotic municipal bankruptcy would be even worse, as the recent bankruptcies of Jefferson County, Ala., San Bernardino and Stockton, Calif., and Central Falls, R.I., have shown.
«The outlook also reflects some question as to the city's willingness to close these gaps and meet all its obligations given the Mayor's research
into municipal bankruptcy protection.»
Although the provisions of Chapter 9
municipal bankruptcy technically shield the city from being forced to sell any asset, a mixture of alarmism and rational fear of a populist campaign — to find revenue wherever possible to pay pensioners and other creditors — has led a wide array of observers to wonder how much money, exactly, could be squeezed out of the encyclopedic museum's vast holdings.
The city of Detroit, Michigan, filed for Chapter 9 bankruptcy — the largest
municipal bankruptcy filing in the U.S. history by debt, estimated at $ 18 - $ 20 billion.
A U.S. Court judge on Friday confirmed Detroit's plan to adjust $ 18 billion of debt and exit the biggest -
ever municipal bankruptcy.
New York's enactment of long - term pension reform and minor modifications to the binding arbitration process must be the beginning and not the end of the long overdue mandate relief necessary to enable locally - determined restructuring and avoid the pain and shame
of municipal bankruptcy.»
A major group exhibition of ninety nine artists based in the United States, 99 Cents or Less addresses Detroit's ongoing economic crisis and its 2013 bankruptcy — the
largest municipal bankruptcy filing in the history of the United States.
The journey through Chapter 9
municipal bankruptcy began on July 18, 2013, with major creditors girding for battle, and has wound down in a flurry of settlements.
Last year, she made no secret of studying the potential
for municipal bankruptcy, even when it scared Wall Street bond ratings agencies.
The most well - known
current municipal bankruptcy is that of Detroit, Michigan, the largest American city to seek protection under Chapter 9 of the U.S. Bankruptcy Code.
Volatility spiked dramatically across the world, and Orange County had the then - largest
municipal bankruptcy in U.S. history.
If Orr ultimately recommends that Detroit file
municipal bankruptcy, it would be the largest in U.S. history.
A U.S. judge on Friday confirmed Detroit's plan to adjust $ 18 billion of debt and exit the biggest - ever
municipal bankruptcy.
How would Gates and Buffett profit from
some municipal bankruptcy filings in the next year or two?
Recall that unlike U.S. municipalities (such as Detroit), Puerto Rico bodies and utilities aren't considered debtors for purposes of Chapter 9 of the U.S. Bankruptcy Code and therefore don't have access to
the municipal bankruptcy process.
That is the city's plan to settle with its creditors and emerge from America's largest - ever
municipal bankruptcy.
The city of Detroit has been released from active state oversight just over three years after exiting the largest
municipal bankruptcy in U.S. history.
A California - style wave of
municipal bankruptcies may be appealing to some conservatives, if only because it sounds like appropriate punishment for fiscal irresponsibility.
He was part of the team that brought Nassau County's finances back from the verge of
municipal bankruptcy.
In his statement, Baynes called the restructuring board and the pension changes good first steps, but they «must be the beginning and not the end of the long overdue mandate relief necessary to enable locally - determined restructuring and avoid the pain and shame of
municipal bankruptcy.»
But their hometown won't get a similar bailout, even as Detroit becomes the largest
municipal bankruptcy in U.S. history.
The Comptroller says he does not want to see the pattern in California of
municipal bankruptcies to spread to New York.
In August, Miner publicly acknowledged that she had asked for legal research into the option of
municipal bankruptcy.