The first of many?

[totes6]

http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/10/ ... DS20111012


Is this just the opening of the flood gates?

[Kreutz]

We have family near there, they said this was decades in the making but never though it would come to this. It'll spread.

[Diomed]

I've been hearing whispers for a couple of years now about cities teetering on the edge of bankruptcy. Nothing's come of it until now.

I don't know enough about municipal bonds, etc. to have any idea how a possible wave of local government bankruptcies will affect the national economy, or if it would.

[allingeneral]

It's a good thing they "Went Green" and bought that new incinerator, eh?!

[totes6]

The City Council has rejected rescue plans, one backed by the state and one by the city's mayor. Those plans called on Harrisburg to renegotiate labor deals and sell or lease its most valuable assets -- the incinerator and parking garages.

The City Council said those plans demanded too much of Harrisburg residents and did not ask enough of the county, bondholders and the bond insurer, Assured Guaranty.

I personally think the above statement from the city council is rather telling. It isn't the "City's Problem" that the city is in the red on their balance sheet, it is everybody else's problem.
Personally to me, it sounds like the incinerator is a loosing venture and the City should get rid of it while it is still worth some money to someone. But I would probably argue against selling the parking garages as they could be a profit generating property. And if they are not, then the city needs to revamp their plans with them and make them profit generating.

[Kreutz]

Personally to me, it sounds like the incinerator is a loosing venture and the City should get rid of it while it is still worth some money to someone. But I would probably argue against selling the parking garages as they could be a profit generating property. And if they are not, then the city needs to revamp their plans with them and make them profit generating.

Can't generate a profit with a unionized municipal workforce running it. The parking attendants will probably pull in 120k/year with overtime and benefits; the garage will probably make half that.