Michigan's Wayne County plans to sell nearly $187 million of general obligation limited-tax notes next week, while warning potential investors that it could be headed to federal bankruptcy court, Reuters reported on Friday. The note sale is part of about $8 billion of debt expected to be offered in the U.S. municipal bond market in the coming week, according to Thomson Reuters estimates on Friday. Wayne County said that if its plan to address chronic budget deficits by curbing pension and health care benefits and cutting wages is not implemented, the state of Michigan is likely to appoint an emergency manager, who could recommend a chapter 9 municipal bankruptcy filing, according to offering documents for the note deal. Detroit, which is in Wayne County, exited the biggest-ever municipal bankruptcy last year, shedding about $7 billion of its $18 billion of debt and obligations.
