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发帖数: 7948 | 1 【 以下文字转载自 Stock 讨论区 】
发信人: kelvin2088 (哈罗哈精神), 信区: Stock
标 题: City of Compton终于挺不住Gangster,要BK了！
发信站: BBS 未名空间站 (Wed Jul 18 12:14:09 2012, 美东)
标 题: City of Compton may declare bankruptcy by September -officials
【 以下文字转载自 Chinook 俱乐部 】
发信人: kelvin2088 (哈罗哈精神), 信区: Chinook
标 题: City of Compton may declare bankruptcy by September -officials
发信站: BBS 未名空间站 (Wed Jul 18 12:13:55 2012, 美东)
http://in.reuters.com/article/2012/07/18/compton-idINL2E8II0222
(Reuters) - The City of Compton, a city of 93,000 people located on the
outskirts of Los Angeles, must decide by Sept. 1 whether to seek bankruptcy,
according to its two most senior financial officials.
Such a move would see it join a growing number of deficit-hobbled California
cities that have used the filing to restructure onerous debt loads.
Compton, which has an accumulated $43 million deficit and has depleted what
had been a $22 million reserve, will run out of cash to make its payroll on
Sept. 1 at its current cash consumption rate, city comptroller Steven
Ajobiewe told the city council during a July 17 meeting.
"I have $3 million in the bank and $5 million in warrants due in the next 10
to 12 days," said city treasurer Doug Sanders. "By then, the council will
have a decision to make: don't pay the bonds, default on them, or have a
serious talk about bankruptcy."
The city council adjourned at 11 pm without discussing a potential
bankruptcy filing.
Compton Mayor Eric J. Perrodin also said he brought unspecified charges of "
waste, fraud and abuse of public monies" to California officials, and had
met with auditors from both the state and Los Angeles County.
He told the city council that at one point in its past the city had
overspent legally set limits on certain programs by $17 million but would
not elaborate.
Neither the state nor county has started an audit or investigation, city
officials said.
A bankruptcy filing would follow one by San Bernardino, which on July 9
became the third California city this year to seek restructuring of its
liabilities. Earlier, Stockton and Mammoth Lakes also said they would file.
Compton's problems escalated on July 13 when credit rating agency Standard &
Poor's said it may cut Compton's BB long-term and underlying ratings for
its lease revenue bonds.
S&P cited a decision by Mayer Hoffman McCann, the city's independent
auditors, to resign rather than sign off on Compton's 2011 financial
statement.
Mayer Hoffman McCann did not return phone calls and e-mails seeking comment.
S&P gave the state 90 days to produce certified audited financials, said
city controller Ajobiewe, who said the rating agency could withdraw or
suspend its ratings on as much as $70 million in city bonds.
Ajobiewe said he had found no other auditing firm willing to step in. City
treasurer Sanders said the city had made little progress on a short-term
line of credit.
The city council added to Compton's accumulated deficit on July 10 when it
adopted a $161 million budget with a $9 million projected deficit.
The red ink grew to $10 million during the council meeting, when city
maintenance officials said they needed to make $1 million in immediate
repairs to the city's water system to bring them up to code and avoid fines
from LA County health officials.
Mayor Perrodin was more optimistic than his financial staff that the city
could avoid bankruptcy, although he noted similarities between Compton and
San Bernardino, which has a population twice that of his city.
Unemployment is worse in Compton than San Bernardino, he said, although both
have seen property taxes fall precipitously due to rising home foreclosures.
Unlike San Bernardino, which has a large unfunded liability to pay its
employees' pensions, Compton years ago increased its property tax to fund
its workers' pension obligations, said Perrodin, and the retirement program
is fully funded.
"Those other cities that went bankrupt all had huge pension liabilities that
they couldn't meet," said the mayor. "Even so, we're in pretty dire straits
." |
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