Munhall Awaiting Decision On Loan Amid Fiscal Turmoil

Map of Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, United States with township and municipal boundaries (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

By today’s end, Munhall officials expect to know if private financing for a tax anticipation loan will be available to the borough, averting the need for layoffs of police and public works employees.

Council was forced in recent weeks to advertise for private financing after it could not get a regular bank loan because the borough did not have its annual audits for 2011 and 2012 performed by an independent auditor and filed with the state Department of Community and Economic Development.

That revelation is one of a number of surprises that council members say they’ve faced since Matt Galla abruptly resigned as borough manager June 17. The other surprises include the fact that appropriate pension contributions were not made to employee pension plans in 2011 and 2012, that many borough records, including employees’ salary histories, are gone from the borough offices, and that the borough lost $360,000 in regional asset district funds.

Since June, two interim managers and a certified public accountant have been trying to reconstruct the borough’s records. That reconstruction has shown that Mr. Galla may have paid himself more than his approved $60,000 salary.

Read more: http://www.post-gazette.com/local/south/2014/02/10/Munhall-awaiting-decision-on-loan-amid-fiscal-turmoil/stories/201402100093#ixzz2swAw1oXw

Duggan To Take Bankrupt Detroit’s Oath Of Office

DETROIT (AP) — When Mike Duggan is sworn in as Detroit’s mayor shortly after 11 a.m. on New Year’s Day, he’ll begin a four-year term with limited powers in an insolvent city whose finances are controlled by a state-appointed overseer.

He plans to start work immediately, holding initial staff meetings Wednesday at City Hall. But Duggan already has been busy on Detroit’s behalf since voters elected him in November.

The former Detroit Medical Center chief has attended a meeting of new mayors hosted by the White House, put together his own administration and lobbied with emergency manager Kevyn Orr for a greater role in the city’s immediate turnaround.

“He’s been engaged on issues and has been preparing to hit the ground running,” former Detroit Councilwoman Sheila Cockrel said of Duggan.

Read more: http://timesleader.com/news/news/1094513/Duggan-to-take-bankrupt-Detroits-oath-of-office

Detriot Files For Bankruptcy

Map of downtown Detroit with I-375 and BS-375 highlighted (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

DETROIT — Detroit on Thursday became the largest city in U.S. history to file for bankruptcy, as the state-appointed emergency manager filed for Chapter 9 protection.

Kevyn Orr, a bankruptcy expert, was hired by the state in March to lead Detroit out of a fiscal free-fall and made the filing Thursday in federal bankruptcy court.

A number of factors — most notably steep population and tax base falls — have been blamed on Detroit’s tumble toward insolvency.  Detroit lost a quarter-million residents between 2000 and 2010.  A population that in the 1950s reached 1.8 million is struggling to stay above 700,000.  Much of the middle-class and scores of businesses also have fled Detroit, taking their tax dollars with them.

In recent months, the city has relied on state-backed bond money to meet payroll for its approximately 10,000 employees.

Read more:  http://www.pottsmerc.com/article/20130718/NEWS04/130719263/once-mighty-motor-city-files-for-bankruptcy

City Of Altoona Accepted Into Act 47 Distressed Municipalities Program

Undetailed map of Altoona, Pennsylvania and some surrounding areas From my talk page: :I drew the map of Altoona in xpaint from a map on the Internet and a Rand-McNally atlas. It’s in the public domain. — Djinn112 04:40, 28 Sep 2004 (UTC) –$ 02:38, 2 Oct 2004 (UTC) Category:Altoona (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Editor’s note:  More bad economic news! Altoona joins Reading and Harrisburg as the latest Pennsylvania city to have major financial problems!

The state on Thursday accepted Altoona into its Distressed Municipalities Program.

City officials hope “going distressed” will help avoid insolvency by relaxing restrictions on property and income taxes and by helping adjust operations in a framework that has virtually strangled all third-class cities in Pennsylvania.

“Altoona needs more than a short-term or week-by-week fix from its creditors and obligations,” stated Department of Community and Economic Development Secretary C. Alan Walker in a news release. “It needs a comprehensive recovery plan that will lay the groundwork for long-term financial solvency.”

Walker will have 30 days to appoint an Act 47 coordinator for Altoona, and the coordinator will then have 90 days to propose a recovery plan.

Read more: http://www.altoonamirror.com/page/content.detail/id/560502/City-receives-entry-into-Act-47-distressed-program.html?nav=742