Detroit's available cash shrank less quickly than city officials feared it would in the latest quarter, but it was still down nearly 32 percent from the previous quarter to $87.5 million, according to a report posted on the city emergency manager's website, Reuters reported yesterday. The decline was significant, but did not approach the levels feared by Detroit Emergency Manager Kevyn Orr. In August, he warned that the city could be out of cash at year end if Detroit were unable to gain unfettered access to casino tax revenue, which is pledged to banks for payments on interest rate swap agreements that the city is trying to terminate at a steep discount. Bankruptcy Judge Steven Rhodes, who is overseeing Detroit's bankruptcy case, last week rejected a deal for the city to end the swaps at a 43 percent discounted payment to two investment banks. Judge Rhodes urged Detroit to renegotiate with its swaps counterparties, UBS AG and Merrill Lynch Capital Services. Detroit's cash on hand beat the city's forecast of ending the quarter with just $40.7 million, largely due to higher-than-expected property tax collections, the report showed.
