底
特律市周四下午申请联邦破产保护，这座汽车城和曾经的音乐之都成为美国历史上规模最大的城市破产案主角。
Associated Press
图片：底特律的百年兴衰。图为1931年4月15日，福特公司的第2千万辆汽车下线。
最终决定取决于共和党出身的州长斯奈德(Rick Snyder)，他今年3月指派奥尔为底特律的财务监督者。
斯奈德在密歇根州官方网站发布的一个视频中说，这是一个艰难且痛苦的决定，但我认为没有其他可行的选择。以底特律的衰落来看，当前形势已经酝酿了60年。从财务角度看，恕我直言：底特律已经破产。
斯奈德在一封给奥尔和密歇根州财政部长狄龙(Andrew Dillon)的信中写道，他知道许多人将认为此刻是该市历史上的最糟时刻，但他说，他同时也认为这将是一个从头再来的机会，没有了债务的包袱，而那些债务原本就没有全部偿还的希望。这封信注明的日期是周四。
这座汽车城的财务前景前所未有地黯淡。该市人口已经从上世纪50年代鼎盛时期的近200万缩减到当前的70万。
由于居民和企业纷纷迁往郊区，州政府援助缩减，加上房地产价格暴跌，底特律只能举债以敷运营开支以及养老金和退休公务员医保等长期负担。
人们原本预计该市将报告长期债务接近200亿美元。但初步文件仅显示，该市资产及债务均超过10亿美元。
奥尔已经宣布该市无法履行偿债职能，最近未能向该市养老金系统支付一笔近4,000万美元的付款。
密歇根州长说，底特律无法履行其对市民或债权人的责任。他在与破产申请一同提交的一份备忘录中写道，底特律市民致电警方平均要等待58分钟才能得到响应，而全国平均等待时间为11分钟。破案率仅为8.7%，密歇根全州的破案率为30.5%。
今年第一季度，底特律约有40%的路灯不亮，只有三分之一的救护车可提供服务。
30岁的底特律居民洛伊(Kori Loewe)说，在这个节骨眼上，任何能帮到底特律的事我都支持；我不知道这对我们居民来说具体意味着什么，但底特律需要帮助。
知情人士说，破产申请原本预计将于周五提交。但鉴于诸多诉讼案和申请信息泄露所带来的压力，提交申请的时间提前了。上述诉讼案中包括养老基金为阻止破产而在周三提出的诉讼。
底特律的破产申请文件制作得十分匆忙，批准奥尔提交该文件的命令将签字日期从7月19日改到了7月18日。
持有底特律债务的投资公司AllianceBernstein市政信用研究部负责人罗森布拉姆(Joe Rosenblum)说，他对底特律申请破产并不觉得意外，还说拖了这么久才令人意外。他说，奥尔6月份提出的重组方案对一些债券持有人几乎没有给出任何赔偿，他几乎是在强迫债权人抵制这个方案。
市政债券市场上令人格外关注的是，该市某些一般信用担保债券被视为无担保债券，这意味着投在这些债券上的钱只能收回百分之几。这种类型的债券被认为是最安全的市政投资之一。市场参与者说，这类债券的投资保险系数如果被定得太低的话，可能会抬高密歇根州各城镇甚至是美国的借款成本。
债券持有人以及在职和退休人员都在担心底特律破产对其利息支付、养老和医疗可能意味着什么，而一些商界人士则对该州结束了底特律长达数月的财政前景不明朗状态表示赞赏。
底特律商会(Detroit Regional Chamber)会长巴鲁阿(Sandy K. Baruah)在声明中说，破产是以一种有意义且可持续的方式最终解决底特律财政问题所需的大胆举动；虽然没人喜欢破产这个概念，但在解决这个历史名城的长期结构性财政挑战方面却是必要的。
总部位于底特律的通用汽车公司(General Motors Co.)说，该公司预计底特律申请破产不会对该公司日常运营产生任何影响。几年前，通用汽车通过重组摆脱了破产法第11章规定的破产保护状态。
这家汽车生产商在声明中说：通用汽车对于把底特律称为家乡深感骄傲，今天这个城市宣布破产是我们所有人都不希望看到的；不过我们相信，今天可以是底特律崭新的开始。
白宫发言人说，美国总统和总统高级团队成员将持续密切关注底特律的局势。
底特律的人口是北加州斯托克顿市人口的两倍多。在底特律申请破产之前，后者曾于2012年6月申请破产，是当时全美申请破产的最大城市。
在底特律之前，阿拉巴马州的杰斐逊县也曾提起过最大规模的市政破产申请。2011年该县申请破产时，负债超过40亿美元。另外，加州的圣贝纳迪诺近年也提交过破产申请。该市得知自己财政赤字达4,600万美元后，于2012年8月走上了申请破产之路。
MATTHEW DOLAN / KELLY NOLAN
（更新完成）
（本文版权归道琼斯公司所有，未经许可不得翻译或转载。）
The city of Detroit filed for federal bankruptcy protection on Thursday afternoon, making the automobile capital and onetime music powerhouse the country's largest-ever municipal bankruptcy case.
The Chapter 9 filing in U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Eastern District of Michigan came after Kevyn Orr, the city's emergency manager, failed to reach agreements with enough of the bondholders, pension funds and other creditors to restructure Detroit's debt outside of court.
The final decision rested with Republican Gov. Rick Snyder, who had appointed Mr. Orr as Detroit's financial overseer in March.
'This was a difficult and painful decision but I believe there are no other viable options,' said Mr. Snyder in a video on Michigan's official website. 'This is a situation that's been 60 years in the making in terms of the decline of Detroit. From a financial point of view, let me be blunt: Detroit is broke.'
Mr. Snyder wrote in a letter dated Thursday to Mr. Orr and Michigan state treasurer Andrew Dillon that he knows many will see this as a 'low point' in the city's history but he said he also thought that this will be 'a chance for a fresh start, without burdens of debt it cannot hope to fully pay.'
The financial outlook has never been bleaker for the Motor City, which has shrunk from its peak of nearly two million people in 1950 to 700,000 today.
Hurt by a flight of residents and businesses to the suburbs, cuts in state aid and a crash in real-estate values, Detroit borrowed to meet operating costs as well as long-term liabilities such as pensions and health care for retired city workers.
It was expected that the city would report long-term liabilities close to $20 billion. But the initial documents only indicate that the city's assets as well as its liabilities each exceed $1 billion.
Mr. Orr had called the city functionally insolvent and recently missed a payment to the city's pension system of nearly $40 million.
The governor said the city cannot meet obligations to its citizens or its creditors. Citizens wait an average of 58 minutes for the police to respond to their calls, compared to a national average of 11 minutes, he wrote in a memo filed with the bankruptcy petition. Only 8.7% of cases are solved, compared to a statewide average of 30.5%.
About 40% of the city's street lights weren't functioning in the first quarter of the year, and only a third of its ambulances were in service.
'At this point, whatever helps the city I am for,' said 30-year-old Detroit resident Kori Loewe. 'I don't know the ins and outs of what it is going to mean for us as residents, but the city needs help.'
A person familiar with the matter said the filing had been expected to come Friday. But pressure from a number of lawsuits岸including one filed by pension funds on Wednesday trying to block a bankruptcy岸and leaks about the pending filing moved up the timetable.
The document was so rushed that an order approving the filing by Mr. Orr had its signature date changed to July 18 from July 19.
Joe Rosenblum, director of municipal credit research at investment firm AllianceBernstein, which owns Detroit debt, said he wasn't surprised by the city's bankruptcy filing, adding 'it's only surprising that it took so long.' He said Mr. Orr's restructuring proposal from June offered so little to some bondholders 'he almost forced creditors to resist.'
Of particular concern to those in the municipal-bond market is the treatment of some of the city's general-obligation bonds as unsecured, meaning they could be repaid at pennies on the dollar. This type of debt is considered to be one of the safest muni investments. Harsh treatment may result in higher borrowing costs for cities and towns across Michigan, and potentially the U.S., market participants said.
While bondholders and active and retired workers worry about what bankruptcy may mean for their interest payments, pensions and health care, some in the business community commended the state for ending the monthslong uncertainty about the city's financial future.
'Bankruptcy is the bold step needed to finally address Detroit's financial problems in a meaningful and sustainable way,' Detroit Regional Chamber President Sandy K. Baruah said in statement. 'While nobody welcomes the concept of bankruptcy, it is necessary to solve the long-term structural financial challenges of this historic city.'
Detroit-based General Motors Co., GM +1.32% which emerged from a Chapter 11 bankruptcy reorganization several years ago, said it doesn't anticipate any impact from the city's filing on its daily operations.
'GM is proud to call Detroit home and today's bankruptcy declaration is a day that we and others hoped would not come,' the vehicle maker said in a statement. 'We believe, however, that today also can mark a clean start for the city.
A White House spokeswoman said that 'the president and members of the president's senior team continue to closely monitor the situation in Detroit.'
Detroit has more than double the population of the Northern California city of Stockton, which until Detroit had been the largest U.S. city ever to file for bankruptcy when it did so in June 2012.
Before Detroit, the largest municipal bankruptcy filing had involved Jefferson County, Ala., which was more than $4 billion in debt when it took the step in 2011. Another recent city to file for bankruptcy was San Bernardino, Calif., which took that route in August 2012 after learning it had a $46 million deficit.
MATTHEW DOLAN / KELLY NOLAN
The Chapter 9 filing in U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Eastern District of Michigan came after Kevyn Orr, the city's emergency manager, failed to reach agreements with enough of the bondholders, pension funds and other creditors to restructure Detroit's debt outside of court.
The final decision rested with Republican Gov. Rick Snyder, who had appointed Mr. Orr as Detroit's financial overseer in March.
'This was a difficult and painful decision but I believe there are no other viable options,' said Mr. Snyder in a video on Michigan's official website. 'This is a situation that's been 60 years in the making in terms of the decline of Detroit. From a financial point of view, let me be blunt: Detroit is broke.'
Mr. Snyder wrote in a letter dated Thursday to Mr. Orr and Michigan state treasurer Andrew Dillon that he knows many will see this as a 'low point' in the city's history but he said he also thought that this will be 'a chance for a fresh start, without burdens of debt it cannot hope to fully pay.'
The financial outlook has never been bleaker for the Motor City, which has shrunk from its peak of nearly two million people in 1950 to 700,000 today.
Hurt by a flight of residents and businesses to the suburbs, cuts in state aid and a crash in real-estate values, Detroit borrowed to meet operating costs as well as long-term liabilities such as pensions and health care for retired city workers.
It was expected that the city would report long-term liabilities close to $20 billion. But the initial documents only indicate that the city's assets as well as its liabilities each exceed $1 billion.
Mr. Orr had called the city functionally insolvent and recently missed a payment to the city's pension system of nearly $40 million.
The governor said the city cannot meet obligations to its citizens or its creditors. Citizens wait an average of 58 minutes for the police to respond to their calls, compared to a national average of 11 minutes, he wrote in a memo filed with the bankruptcy petition. Only 8.7% of cases are solved, compared to a statewide average of 30.5%.
About 40% of the city's street lights weren't functioning in the first quarter of the year, and only a third of its ambulances were in service.
'At this point, whatever helps the city I am for,' said 30-year-old Detroit resident Kori Loewe. 'I don't know the ins and outs of what it is going to mean for us as residents, but the city needs help.'
A person familiar with the matter said the filing had been expected to come Friday. But pressure from a number of lawsuits岸including one filed by pension funds on Wednesday trying to block a bankruptcy岸and leaks about the pending filing moved up the timetable.
The document was so rushed that an order approving the filing by Mr. Orr had its signature date changed to July 18 from July 19.
Joe Rosenblum, director of municipal credit research at investment firm AllianceBernstein, which owns Detroit debt, said he wasn't surprised by the city's bankruptcy filing, adding 'it's only surprising that it took so long.' He said Mr. Orr's restructuring proposal from June offered so little to some bondholders 'he almost forced creditors to resist.'
Of particular concern to those in the municipal-bond market is the treatment of some of the city's general-obligation bonds as unsecured, meaning they could be repaid at pennies on the dollar. This type of debt is considered to be one of the safest muni investments. Harsh treatment may result in higher borrowing costs for cities and towns across Michigan, and potentially the U.S., market participants said.
While bondholders and active and retired workers worry about what bankruptcy may mean for their interest payments, pensions and health care, some in the business community commended the state for ending the monthslong uncertainty about the city's financial future.
'Bankruptcy is the bold step needed to finally address Detroit's financial problems in a meaningful and sustainable way,' Detroit Regional Chamber President Sandy K. Baruah said in statement. 'While nobody welcomes the concept of bankruptcy, it is necessary to solve the long-term structural financial challenges of this historic city.'
Detroit-based General Motors Co., GM +1.32% which emerged from a Chapter 11 bankruptcy reorganization several years ago, said it doesn't anticipate any impact from the city's filing on its daily operations.
'GM is proud to call Detroit home and today's bankruptcy declaration is a day that we and others hoped would not come,' the vehicle maker said in a statement. 'We believe, however, that today also can mark a clean start for the city.
A White House spokeswoman said that 'the president and members of the president's senior team continue to closely monitor the situation in Detroit.'
Detroit has more than double the population of the Northern California city of Stockton, which until Detroit had been the largest U.S. city ever to file for bankruptcy when it did so in June 2012.
Before Detroit, the largest municipal bankruptcy filing had involved Jefferson County, Ala., which was more than $4 billion in debt when it took the step in 2011. Another recent city to file for bankruptcy was San Bernardino, Calif., which took that route in August 2012 after learning it had a $46 million deficit.
MATTHEW DOLAN / KELLY NOLAN
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