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Circuit Upholds Dismissal of Suits to Restrict Puerto Rico’s Use of Tax Revenue
Automatic Stay Applies to ‘Ordinary Course’ Litigation in Puerto Rico, Circuit Holds
PA Turnpike Commission ‘on the Path to Bankruptcy,’ Auditor General Says
High-Yield Muni Market Passes a Key Test from Puerto Rico’s Sell-Off

Official: Puerto Rico Debt-Adjustment Plan Not ‘Realistic’ in April

Experts Warn New York City Edging Toward Financial Disaster
Experts say New York City is careening closer to all-out financial bankruptcy for the first time since Mayor Abraham Beame ran the city more than 40 years ago, the New York Post reported. As tax-fleeced businesses and individuals flee en masse, and city public spending surges into the stratosphere, financial analysts say New York is perilously near total fiscal disaster. Long-term debt is now more than $81,100 per household, and Mayor de Blasio is ramping up to spend as much as $3 billion more in the new budget than the current $89.2 billion. “The city is running a deficit and could be in a real difficult spot if we had a recession, or a further flight of individuals because of tax reform,” said Milton Ezrati, chief economist of Vested. De Blasio has detailed $750 million in savings for the preliminary fiscal 2020 budget, but that won’t be enough to stave off a bloodbath if New York’s economy is hit by financial shocks — including a recession, which some see on the horizon — analysts warn. Gov. Cuomo’s preliminary budget has $600 million in city cuts in the coming year. But city spending, up some 32 percent since de Blasio took office — triple the rate of inflation — may need to be cut deeper, these analysts add. The city’s long-term pension obligations have escalated, as well, as its workforce has soared by more than 33,000 in the last five years.