Thousands of city employees and retirees lost big on July 18, 2013, when a state-appointed manager made Detroit the largest U.S. city to file for bankruptcy, Fortune reported. A decade later, the Motor City has risen from the ashes of insolvency, with balanced budgets, revenue increases and millions of dollars socked away. Many who spent years on Detroit’s payroll say they can’t help but feel left behind. The city-funded health care also ends with retirement. The architect of the bankruptcy filing was Kevyn Orr, a lawyer hired by then-Gov. Rick Snyder in 2013 to fix Detroit’s budget deficit and its underfunded pensions, health care costs and bond payments. Detroit exited bankruptcy in December 2014 with about $7 billion in debt restructured or wiped out and $1.7 billion set aside to improve city services. Businesses, foundations and the state donated more than $800 million to soften the pension cuts and preclude the sale of city-owned art. The pension cuts were necessary, Orr insisted. In 2013, Detroit had some 21,000 retired workers who were owed benefits, with underfunded obligations of about $3.5 billion for pensions and $5.7 billion for retiree health coverage. In the months before the bankruptcy, state-backed bond money helped the city meet payroll for its 10,000 employees. The city has reported nine consecutive years of balanced budgets and strong cash surpluses.
