"San Bernardino Invokes the B-word: Bankruptcy"

From Reason's Hit&Run blog:

 

The City of San Bernardino (population: 210,000), birthplace of fast food, may be the next California city to file for bankruptcy if it can’t find a way to deal with its budget deficit. Via The Press Enterprise (Riverside):

A June 26 budget report to the council stated that city spending for the current fiscal year is projected to exceed revenues by more than $45 million if it is unable to find other revenues and/or cut spending.

The report states that city has seen its annual general fund revenues drop by $11.69 million in the past five years due to declines in sales, property and utility taxes while its reserve funds have been depleted. …

Among the measures being proposed are restructuring the police and fire departments to reduce “non-essential services” and closing one or more inefficient fire stations. Other proposals include asking city employees to pay more of their retirement costs, reducing salary increases and offering an early retirement program.

According to reporting by The Sun (San Bernardino), personnel costs make up 75 percent of the city’s budget and the money being spent on retirement has risen to 13 percent of the general fund....MORE