The 11th Circuit Court of Appeals scheduled oral arguments for Dec. 16 in Atlanta in the appeal of Jefferson County, Ala.'s bankruptcy plan, the Bond Buyer reported yesterday. "I am delighted that our case is now set and that we will have our day in court," said Jefferson County Commission President Jimmie Stephens, adding that he anticipates the date will remain firm. Arguments in the county's case have been tentatively set seven times in the past year only to be removed from the calendar, county attorney Kenneth Klee with Klee, Tuchin, Bogdanoff & Stern LLP, said in a Nov. 4 letter requesting that the court a set a firm date for the appeal. There is no set schedule after that for the judicial panel to issue a ruling. Jefferson County has now been in appeal mode nearly three years defending its bankruptcy plan, a year longer than it took to go through the chapter 9 process. In December 2013, two years after filing to adjust debt primarily related to sewer system obligations, Jefferson County exited bankruptcy after selling $1.8 billion in sewer refunding warrants to write down $1.4 billion of the sewer system's debt. A bondholder security provision in the county's plan allows investors to go back to the bankruptcy court should county commissioners fail to comply with their promise to enact sewer system rates that will support the 40-year warrants.
