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Monday, December 5, 2011

Detroit Michigan's unsustainable budget

CBS news reports that the state of Michigan is considering taking over the management of the city of Detroit.  The city has a 150 million dollar budget deficit.  Concerns about the budget were raised in 2001 but the decline in the auto industry and the loss of 25% of the cities residents in the last decade has made fiscal solvency difficult.  In many areas the city is behind the times.  The city still has its employees doing garbage collection.  It has not changed from a pension plan to a 401K plan.  The cities finances will be examined over a 90 day period with a decision about state control to come in late February, 2012.

Update: Forbes Magazine has now put Detroit at the top of the 2013 list of the Most Miserable Cities in America.

Detroit  has one of the highest unemployment rates in the nation at over 11%.  According to The National Institute for Literacy, 47 percent of adults in Detroit are functionally illiterate.  On the bright side, the Detroit's Mayor has promised to demolish 10,000 of the 90,000 abandoned properties.

http://www.businessinsider.com/the-20-most-unemployed-cities-2009-11?op=1

It will take some sacrifice, creativity and leadership to revitalize this city.







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