Update 3:58 p.m.
Mayor Bing's office issued this statement in response to today's reports:
Mayor Bing has not asked Gov. Snyder for a loan from the state for $125-$150 million. In response to a reporter’s question about whether he would ask Gov. Snyder for bridge funding for the city, the Mayor simply replied, "That's possible." When the reporter later asked how much he would like to ask for, the Mayor responded with the above mentioned range. “The city continues to implement the financial restructuring plan the Mayor announced in January to save $102 million this year and $258 million in 2013,” said Kirk Lewis, Mayor Bing's chief of staff. “The savings to keep the city financial solvent will be achieved through the plan, including the ratification of previously announced tentative agreements with the city’s labor unions.”
1:44 p.m.
There’s discussion today about whether Detroit might ask taxpayers to help Michigan’s largest city through a cash crisis.
The city could run out of money in May, or sooner.
Detroit Mayor Dave Bing said he might or might not ask the state for a $150 million bridge loan.
He said earlier this week in his State of the City address that some assistance from Lansing will be necessary to fix Detroit’s finances.
Governor Rick Snyder said he hopes a legally binding plan to get Detroit’s spending under control will avert a state takeover.
Geralyn Lasher is the governor’s communications director.
“From the governor’s perspective, you have to have it to be a complete plan. Certainly, the dollars at the state level are extremely limited. We need to be very smart and efficient in how the dollars are spent.”
Lasher says a short-term cash infusion is out of the question without a long-term plan to balance the city’s budget.
Republican leaders have reacted skeptically to the idea. A state review team is expected to make its recommendations by the end of the month on whether the governor should name an emergency manager to run the city.
