Tagged: Detroit financial crisis

Detroit Mayor Dave Bing has sent City Council members proposed language for a consent agreement, as time ticks down for them to counter a state proposal that would avoid an emergency manager.

Bing says his proposal gives Detroit “The appropriate tools to address the City’s financial crisis, and preserve the rights of Detroiters to be governed by the City’s elected officials.”

We’ve known for awhile that Detroit’s finances are reaching a crisis point. It’s believed the city could run out of money within the next few months. News broke yesterday evening that the Snyder Administration will try to remedy the situation. Governor Snyder will lay out details of a proposed consent agreement to members of the Detroit City Council today. A consent agreement would give the city’s elected officials broad powers… similar to those of an emergency manager.

Governor Snyder will lay out details of a proposed consent agreement to members of the Detroit City Council on Tuesday.

Snyder and State Treasurer Andy Dillon, who leads the state review team looking at Detroit’s finances, have suggested a consent agreement for weeks.

That measure could give the city’s elected officials broad powers similar to those of an emergency manager.

The state team reviewing Detroit’s finances has avoided a scheduled court date—and possible contempt of court--by disbanding a controversial sub-committee.

An Ingham County Circuit Court Judge had ordered the team to appear in court Monday.

The state review team looking into Detroit’s finances met in public for the first time Tuesday.

But the meeting was short—less than 20 minutes--and revealed almost nothing about the process behind the review.

The team, led by State Treasurer Andy Dillon, briefly reviewed Detroit’s bleak financial picture--without major changes, the city will run out of cash before the end of the fiscal year. There was also a brief public comment period.

A state-appointed review team assessing the finances of Detroit met for the first time today. Most members of the panel say they are optimistic the city can avoid being taken over by an emergency manager.

Former Michigan Supreme Court Justice Conrad Mallet is on the panel. He is optimistic the city can turn its deficit around.

“We understand the concerns of the men and women who live inside the city of Detroit about what a survey like this actually entails and what it could mean,” said Mallet. “What it is going to mean is that we are going to get to the bottom of the course of difficulty.”

The review team has about a month and a half to send a report of the city’s finances and a recommendation to Governor Rick Snyder.

The Detroit City Council has scheduled a discussion of Mayor Dave Bing's budget reduction plan. It's set for Thursday afternoon.

A review team is looking into Detroit's finances - a step in a process that could lead to Michigan taking over the city's government. Its recommendations will be forwarded to Gov. Rick Snyder.

A preliminary review determined there was "probable financial stress" in city government and that Detroit faces a general fund deficit of about $200 million. Auditors say Detroit may run out of money as early as April.

Bing, the council and city labor union leaders have been collaborating to convince the state that an emergency manager is unneeded.

Bing has said he'll cut 1,000 jobs early this year to save about $14 million.

Republicans in the state House said “no” today to Detroit lawmakers who tried to add $220 million for the city to a budget bill. Detroit officials say the money is owed the city from an earlier deal with the state.         

Detroit could run out of money to pay its bills by April. A state review team is examining the city’s finances in a process that could wind up with Governor Rick Snyder naming an emergency manager to run Detroit. But members of Detroit's legislative delegation say there are better options.

"It’s not a good investment in the state of Michigan to have your premier city go belly up and bankrupt, which will kill Standard & Poors’ rating of the state of Michigan as a state and all of the other cities and municipalities will go down the drain with them,” said State Rep. Fred Durhal (D-Detroit).

Durhal says he’s working on a plan to get a cash infusion to the city if it develops a state-approved proposal to manage its finances.

The Detroit City Council has rejected one member’s efforts to slash its own budget.

Council President Pro Tem Gary Brown wanted to cut the council’s roughly $13 million budget by a third.

Brown says that’s the same level of concessions city unions are being asked for to avert a fiscal catastrophe in Detroit —and the council should lead by example.

“That’s $5 million the unions don’t have to look for, that we don’t have to ask the unions and the lower-wage city employees to come up with," Brown said. "I think that’s leadership.”

But most of Brown’s colleagues rejected the measure. They said 30 percent was an “excessive” cut that would damage the council’s ability to function.

Council member Ken Cockrel Jr. says the council has already cut its budget about that much over the past three years, and additional cuts could damage the council’s ability to do its job.

“What it really comes down to is, you can do cuts that are responsible for the sake of sharing the pain, or you can do cuts that are really all about trying to score political points,” Cockrel said.

Cockrel says if it wasn’t for Council’s diligence, the depth of the city’s fiscal crisis might never have come to light.

Members ultimately voted the measure down 6-2.

Native Detroiter Harry Morgan died yesterday. What makes me feel old is that while the rest of the world remembers him fondly for his role in MASH, I think of him as Officer Bill Gannon from Dragnet.

That was the show made famous by the iconic line “Just the facts, ma’am.‘ Which, by the way, nobody ever actually said on the show, any more than Humphrey Bogart said “Play it Again, Sam,” in Casablanca. Those are enduring cultural myths.

There’s another, more dangerous myth out there in Detroit today, a myth apparently shared by the mayor and city council.

Detroit Mayor Dave Bing and other city leaders stood side-by-side at city hall Thursday night, saying they’re all ready to work together.

The show of unity comes as the city scrambles to stave off a state-appointed emergency manager. Governor Snyder has threatened to send in a financial review team that would initiate that process if the city doesn’t get its act together.