On July 12, 2012, Phil Willon, Catherine Saillant and Abby Sewell write in the Los Angeles Times about the situation in which throughout the state local governments are slashing services to avoid bankruptcy. For some, it’s too late.
Facing the same financial stressors that pushed San Bernardino toward bankruptcy, cities across California are slashing day-to-day services and taking other drastic actions to skirt a similar fiscal collapse.
For some, it may not be enough.
“There are likely to be more in the future, but it’s hard to know, since a lot of struggling cities may manage to work things out,” said Michael Coleman, a fiscal policy advisor for the California League of Cities. “Some cities may not go into a bankruptcy, but they may dissolve. They may cease to exist.”
Once rare, turning to bankruptcy has become a painful but enticing option for cities whose labor costs and municipal debt far outpace anemic tax revenues.
Also see the CNNMoney report “California Bankruptcies Are Only The Beginning” at http://money.cnn.com/2012/07/12/news/economy/california-bankruptcies/index.htm?iid=Lead
http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-san-bernardino-bankruptcy-20120712,0,2433019.story
