My county, Jefferson County,(Birmingham, Alabama) is in the midst of financial crisis due to sewer debt. The total amount of debt is estimated to be somewhere in the 4 to 5 billion range. We are on the verge of having to file the Nation's largest Chapter 9 municipal bankruptcy if a new plan to restructure the debt is not approved in a State Legislature special session and approved by a statewide referendum.
There have been less than 500 municipal bankruptcies filed in the this country. The largest thus far was Orange County, California in 1996. I think a lot of our citizens are under the impression that Orange County has recovered. If there are any Orange County residents out there that have an alternative view please share.
Personally, I think it would be disastrous to file bankruptcy and just want to walk through that and see what some of the readers think. Timetable of the debt and swaps