Of the nearly $1.7 billion that Detroit's post-bankruptcy plan is expected to generate, only about $900 million comes from restructuring the city's debts, while about $483 million comes from projected new revenues and $358 million from cost savings, according to an editorial in yesterday’s Detroit Free Press. "We don't have $1.7 billion in the bank," said former Detroit emergency manager Kevyn Orr, who led the city through bankruptcy. "We think we've made our estimates reasonable." Both raising revenue and cutting costs have proved problematic for generations of Detroit leaders, according to the editorial. Efforts to do either have been hampered by outdated and inefficient technology, union work rules, poorly devised contracts and insufficient resources to undertake a comprehensive overhaul of city service delivery. "It's very fragile," said Sheila Cockrel, a 16-year veteran of the Detroit City Council who is now the president of Crossroads Consulting. "It's too early to tell if the revenue plan is going to be able to come to fruition, but you've got to start somewhere."
http://www.freep.com/story/opinion/columnists/nancy-kaffer/2015/01/04/d…
To read a copy of Bankruptcy Judge Steven Rhodes' final opinion on confirming Detroit’s plan of reorganization, please click here: http://news.abi.org/sites/default/files/Rhodes_FinalOpinionDetroitPlanC…