The "good news" keeps right on rolling. As such, I keep wondering which major US city will be the first to declare bankruptcy. Please consider candidate Miami.



Miami Declares Financial State of Emergency



Bloomberg reports Miami Declares ‘Financial Urgency’ as It Moves to Cut Worker Pay, Benefits



Miami, facing a $61 million fiscal 2012 deficit, declared a state of “financial urgency” for a second straight year, moving toward wage and benefit cuts.



The declaration gives unions for municipal workers two weeks to agree to contracts for the year that starts in October or be subject to actions imposed by the City Commission. Workers including police and firefighters absorbed about $80 million in reduced pay, health insurance and pensions in fiscal 2011.



“In order to balance the budget, sacrifices have to be made by everyone,” Pat Santangelo, a spokesman for Mayor Tomas Regalado, said today by telephone. The city is the state’s second-largest by population, after Jacksonville.



Miami joins at least two Florida cities that also have invoked the fiscal statute, including one that may force reductions on union workers. Hollywood, which made a declaration in May, is set to cut salaries, including for police and firefighters, as much as 12.5 percent. State law gives cities special powers when they declare financial urgency.



Standard & Poor’s cut Miami’s general-obligation bond rating two steps to BBB, the second-lowest investment grade, on June 28 and gave it a negative outlook, partly because of lawsuits from city unions stemming from cuts imposed in August 2010. The legal actions “expose the city to significant liabilities at a time when its available reserves and liquidity are low,” S&P said in a report.



Bankruptcy the Best Solution for Miami

California Revenue $541 Million Below July Forecast

California revenue fell short of budget estimates by $541 million or 9.2 percent in July, the first month of the 2012 fiscal year, the state Finance Department reported.



The data was similar to figures from Controller John Chiang, who said Aug. 9 that cash receipts for the month missed the forecast by $538.8 million. Chiang said the shortfall may mean further budget cuts are needed.