Birmingham, Alabama
Looks like the biggest municipal bankruptcy in history will be happening soon… from BBG…
~~~~ ” Jefferson County, Alabama, won’t make an $83.5 million payment on some of its $3.2 billion of sewer bonds, as it continues to seek more time to negotiate an end to the debt crisis that has pushed it close to bankruptcy.
Jefferson County Commission President Bettye Fine Collins said yesterday that Wall Street creditors indicated they would be willing to extend a new agreement allowing the county to avoid paying all that it is required on its bonds. Meantime, the county will miss a payment on a portion of the debt, she said.
“We don’t have the funds to cover these interest payments,” Collins, a Republican, said in a telephone interview from Birmingham.
Jefferson County, which includes Birmingham, has prepared to file for bankruptcy protection if it can’t reach an agreement with JPMorgan Chase & Co. and other creditors to refinance bonds whose interest rates soared as high as 10 percent because of the U.S. financial crisis spawned by the subprime mortgage meltdown. The county is among U.S. states and cities in the $2.6 trillion municipal market whose finances have been pinched by debt costs that have risen more than fourfold in some cases…. ” ~~~~
Another big blow for bond insurers and investment banks… after the challenges of the current credit crisis this is another ill wind… it’s like the whole credit edifice is collapsing in front of our eyes…
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[...] may I amend your quote? It might read more accurately to say… ” Jefferson County is the poster child for how corrupt investment banks are hurting Main Street America…” This was written [...]
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