Bankruptcy Judge Thomas Bennett sided with the creditors of Jefferson County, Ala., on Friday by sharply limiting how the cash-strapped county government can use funds generated by its sewer system, Reuters reported on Friday. Ruling in a months-long court dispute over the size of payments to owners of about $3.2 billion of sewer-system debt, Judge Bennett said that the county cannot pay legal fees and set aside charges for depreciation and amortization from net operating revenues owed to creditors. Creditors such as Bank of New York Mellon and JPMorgan Chase had argued that the county had been illegally using money for other purposes. The county claimed it needed the money for repairs and other capital expenses.
