Reuters: Bankruptcy News: UPDATE 1-New York's Syracuse gets opinion on bankrupt-Fitch

Reuters: Bankruptcy News Reuters.com is your source for breaking news, business, financial and investing news, including personal finance and stocks. Reuters is the leading global provider of news, financial information and technology solutions to the world's media, financial institutions, businesses and individuals. // via fulltextrssfeed.com

UPDATE 1-New York's Syracuse gets opinion on bankrupt-Fitch Aug 9th 2012, 21:12 Thu Aug 9, 2012 5:12pm EDT Aug 9 (Reuters) - Syracuse, New York, has asked for a legal opinion on a municipal bankruptcy, but no current credit factors suggest the city would take this step in the near future, Fitch Ratings said on Thursday. "The city's objective at this time is informational only," Fitch said after talking with the mayor of the city, which is the home of a major university named after it. Located in central New York, Syracuse has a population of 145,170 and a median income of $30,891 - well below the state's $55,603. Syracuse is one of several cities across the state and the nation still struggling with the recession's legacy of high unemployment and the rapidly rising costs of benefits for its public workers. "Almost 300 local governments ended either fiscal years 2010, 2011, or both, in a deficit situation," the state comptroller, Thomas DiNapoli, said in a report last week. Mayor Stephanie Miner, a Democrat, asked for a legal opinion outlining the history and structure of bankruptcies in New York, a spokesman said. He added that the mayor "likes to know the details of everything." Further, he said: "That does not mean it is the first step toward anything." New York is one of 15 U.S. states that formally allow local governments to file for bankruptcy under Chapter 9, but it has a long tradition of intervening to prevent them. In 1975, New York City was rescued from the cliff of bankruptcy by a state control board. Currently, there are five control boards in New York, but two of them, including the one for New York City, are only advisory. Fitch rates Syracuse's limited tax general obligations A, with a negative outlook linked to "concerns about the city's ability to reverse operating deficits." Link this Share this Digg this Email Reprints

You are receiving this email because you subscribed to this feed at blogtrottr.com. If you no longer wish to receive these emails, you can unsubscribe from this feed, or manage all your subscriptions