Bankrupt Detroit to Cut Public Pensions

Pension Cut is a Must for Detroit (Slideshow)

October 26, 2013

Yahoo! Finance - Cuts to Detroit's public pensions and retiree healthcare were inevitable given the city's sagging finances, a top consultant for the city testified on Friday during the third day of a trial to determine whether the city is eligible for bankruptcy.

Money owed to Detroit workers and retirees is a key factor in the case, which will also hear testimony by Kevyn Orr, Detroit's state-appointed emergency manager. Orr is expected to explain efforts to negotiate with the city's numerous creditors, including retirees and pension funds, before deciding to file for the largest-ever Chapter 9 municipal bankruptcy on July 18.

A key claim made by attorneys representing the city's unions, retirees and pension funds is that Orr and his team were intent on filing for bankruptcy and did not make best efforts to negotiate with them prior to the bankruptcy filing. They also claim that plans to cut pensions would violate the Michigan Constitution.

On Friday, city financial consultant Kenneth Buckfire said he did not have to recommend to Orr that pensions for the city's retirees be cut as a way to help Detroit navigate through debts and liabilities that total $18.5 billion. Buckfire said it was clear that the city did not have the funds to pay the unsecured pension payouts without cutting them.

Buckfire, a Detroit native and investment banker with restructuring experience, later told the court the city plans to pay unsecured creditors, including the city's pensioners, 16 cents on the dollar. There are about 23,500 city retirees. On Thursday, Buckfire was questioned by attorneys from Jones Day, the city's attorneys in the bankruptcy filing and Orr's former employer.

This portion of the trial is to determine whether the city is eligible to undergo Chapter 9 restructuring. To qualify for bankruptcy, Detroit must prove the city is insolvent and that it negotiated in good faith with creditors, or that there were too many creditors for negotiations to be feasible. The city also must prove it desires to enact a restructuring plan.

U.S. District Court judge Steven Rhodes, presiding over the trial expected to last at least through next Tuesday, is not expected to rule until at least mid-November whether the city is eligible to undergo restructuring in bankruptcy.

The city has said about half of its liabilities stem from retirement benefits, including $5.7 billion for healthcare and other obligations, and $3.5 billion involving pensions.

How Detroit went broke: The answers may surprise you - and don't blame Coleman Young