Potential emergency managers for Detroit

[Wesley Mouch]

..Most communities in this state are hurting...

This 'hurting' is the result of their own decisions to not operate in a sustainable way. Build too many fancy new city halls; grant generous pensions and benefits to your salaried workforce; hire too many administrators; get involved in areas not core to your mission [[business development, etc.).

[MikeyinBrooklyn]

This 'hurting' is the result of their own decisions to not operate in a sustainable way. Build too many fancy new city halls; grant generous pensions and benefits to your salaried workforce; hire too many administrators; get involved in areas not core to your mission [[business development, etc.).

I agree completely. Can you be a victim if your wounds are self-inflicted? I would argue no. Cities that spend money in accorance with their population's size and the rate of inflation will not be in trouble. The size of a budget's problems is a direct and specific result of it's spending habits.

[Dexlin]

The size of a budget's problems is a direct and specific result of it's spending habits.

That's a nice, conservative talking point and all, and at a time when the economy was strong it may have been true for cities that even managed to struggle, then, but even historically fiscally sound communities in this state are now struggling, and it has WAY more to do with a sharp decline in property values and median income during the recent recession than it does spending habits for these communities. In an already slowly declining economy here in Michigan, you add on the national recession [[which hit Michigan particularly hard), and there was absolutely no way to plan for the kind of drops in value [[of land and skills) that we saw.

[MikeyinBrooklyn]

That's a nice, conservative talking point.

That's why I say it. Sure, when the economy tanks, every community has to make some cuts or increase taxes a little. But I defy anyone here to name a Michigan community on the brink of fiscal collapse that kept their spending in line with inflation compounded by population increase. There isn't one.

[R8RBOB]

That's why I say it. Sure, when the economy tanks, every community has to make some cuts or increase taxes a little. But I defy anyone here to name a Michigan community on the brink of fiscal collapse that kept their spending in line with inflation compounded by population increase. There isn't one.

How about we wait until next year when the communities are functioning with less money from the state before we start asking the question of which towns are on the brink of fiscal collapse.