Ever hear the expression "the hens are coming home to roost?"? Well when it comes to Scranton's financial situation, they are now just a few blocks away from city hall.
This is the end. There aren't enough assets to sell. The Auditor General is just confirming what many have been saying all along: Scranton is functionally bankrupt.
When the pension plans run dry, which they will, retirees who were sold a bill of goods...namely pension benefits that city leaders knew (or should have known) were unsustainable...will take legal action that will lead to a bankruptcy declaration.
Will it happen in 3 years? I'm not sure. The city could find something else to sell, or lease back, or hold a hunkering large bake sale for that matter, forestalling the inevitable for a bit longer. In the end though, the gravity of Scranton's finances, where far more is spent than which is taken in, will force this issue to come to a boil.
Gloom and doom? Hardly. More like a reality that successive city mayors and council members have patently ignored for decades.
Mark my words: this will not end well.
No comments:
Post a Comment