Municipal Bankruptcy

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Controller Betty Yee publishes salary data for cities, counties

Public employees at California cities and counties took home more than $36 billion in compensation last year, according to new payroll data released by the state’s chief fiscal officer. State Controller Betty T. Yee disclosed the 2014 payroll data from 54 counties

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CA city bankruptcies unnerving bond industry

The fallout from municipal bankruptcies in Stockton and San Bernardino continues to play out in unexpected ways, with old presumptions that most significant creditors would be treated similarly falling to the way side. This week, Franklin Templeton filed vigorous objections

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What are the alternatives to bankruptcy?

Editor’s Note: This is the Ninth in a CalWatchDog.com Special Series of in-depth articles on municipal bankruptcy. It was 1975 and New York City was running out of cash. Its excessive spending and lack of financial oversight created a $14 billion debt,

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Cities on a future spending spree

Editor’s Note: This is the eighth in a CalWatchDog.com Special Series of in-depth articles on municipal bankruptcy. Are the staggering forecasted public pension obligations facing state and local governments in California the result of overspending or under-taxation? The technical answer to this

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Warning for CA: Harrisburg confronts bankruptcy

Editor’s Note: This is the seventh in a CalWatchDog.com Special Series of 12 in-depth articles on municipal bankruptcy. In a warning for California, it examines the bankruptcy of Harrisburg, Pa. What happened in Harrisburg, Pa.? One day there was nothing

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The pros and cons of municipal bankruptcy

Editor’s Note: This is the sixth in a CalWatchDog.com Special Series of 12 in-depth articles on municipal bankruptcy. What’s better for a cash-strapped municipality: filing for bankruptcy or struggling to survive without any clear solution to a massive deficit? In

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California counties are more at risk of going belly up

Editor’s Note: This is the fifth in a CalWatchDog.com Special Series of 12 in-depth articles on municipal bankruptcy. There are many California cities likely to be facing future stress to their operating fund budgets because of rising public pension obligations.

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Bond Holders Seek Governmental Transparency

Editor’s Note: This is the fourth in a CalWatchDog.com Special Series of 12 in-depth articles on municipal bankruptcy. Once upon a time buying a municipal bond was considered a safe bet. A decent rate of return with little risk ­–

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Local Governments Face Bankruptcy Quandary

Editor’s Note: This is the third in a CalWatchDog.com Special Series of 12 in-depth articles on municipal bankruptcy. Bankruptcy is the boogeyman haunting governments across America. It’s not a question of if more cities will file for bankruptcy, but how

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Broke Municipalities Look to Bankruptcy Option

Editor’s Note: This is the second in a CalWatchDog.com Special Series of 12 in-depth articles on municipal bankruptcy. Economist Allan Meltzer once quipped that “Capitalism without failure is like religion without sin. It doesn’t work.” Americans have been witnessing this

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