City of Stockton bankruptcy is official

Sacramento Bee/Peter Hecht, 6/27/12. "Stockton council votes to go into bankruptcy protection."

Billboard in Stockton*

"Years after betting on a sustained housing boom to bankroll a waterfront redevelopment and dole out salary and benefit perks to city employees and retirees, Stockton cashed in its chips Tuesday in a plan that will lead it into bankruptcy.

The City Council voted to approve an austerity plan, including stopping bond payments and making deep cuts in retiree health care, as part of a plan to file Chapter 9 bankruptcy.

....  Only six years ago, Stockton had appeared to be a boomtown as median home prices shot up from $110,000 to $400,000."  Read Article.

Related  -  Seattle Times/Associated Press/Gosia Wozniaka, "Stockton official:  Mediation with creditors fails", 6/27/12. NPR, "City of Stockton's looming Bankruptcy:  Pictures tell the story, 6/27/12. * Picture from  KMC Pickle, a local Stockton city blog.

Update -  San Francisco Chronicle/Kevin Fagan, 6/28/12, "Stockton bankruptcy filing makes history."

"The city of Stockton officially notched its reluctant spot in the history books Thursday when it became the biggest city in American history to file for bankruptcy.  

City officials filed Chapter 9 protection papers in federal bankruptcy court in Sacramento, capping three years of fruitless efforts to stem a torrent of red ink caused by the housing foreclosure crisis and millions of dollars in unpayable loans for civic improvement projects."

Submitted by Jim Alex 

Posted by Kathy Meeh