From the article:

Bankruptcy would be a costly alternative that would cost taxpayers millions as the process could take up to five years, experts say. One advantage: Unlike an emergency manager, a bankruptcy judge could restructure bonds or debts to vendors.

Should it happen, Detroit would be the largest city to file for bankruptcy. Cleveland defaulted on its bank loans in the late 1970s but never filed. There were bankruptcy filings in Orange County in 1994 and Vallejo, Calif., in 2008 and both came through Chapter 9 after their finances were restructured.


Isaiah McKinnon, a former chief of the Detroit Police Department who recently served on the governor's financial review board for the city, said there's no danger of bankruptcy unless Detroit fails to adhere to the financial agreement. That's unlikely because of consent agreement safeguards including the hiring of a chief financial officer and program management director, he said.