City of Chester files for Chapter 9 bankruptcy

[BumRushDaShow]

City of Chester files for Chapter 9 bankruptcy

By 6abc Digital Staff
Friday, November 11, 2022 4:49AM


CHESTER, Pennsylvania (WPVI) -- The City of Chester filed for Chapter 9 bankruptcy on Thursday.

Officials say the city is broke and on track to fall into a $46 million deficit next year on a $55 million budget. Roughly $39 million of that is from past-due pension payments.

On Wednesday night before the filing, city workers filled Chester City Hall to voice their frustrations.

Due to the financial crisis, eliminating retiree health care, cutting the city's costs for active employees' medical benefits and reducing the city's pension and debt-service costs are potentially on the chopping block.

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https://6abc.com/chester-pa-chapter-9-bankruptcy-filing-pennsylvania/12440584/

‘The status quo has not worked’: Chester’s receiver files for bankruptcy on behalf of the city

By Kenny Cooper November 10, 2022


Michael Doweary, the state-appointed receiver for Chester, filed for bankruptcy Thursday on behalf of the cash-strapped city. The hope is Chapter 9 of the U.S. Bankruptcy Code will give Chester protection against creditors while it seeks to fix its growing debts. Doweary’s projections have the city falling into a $46.5 million deficit in 2023 — $39.8 million can be attributed to past due pension payments alone.

“Since my appointment over two-and-a-half years ago, I have worked to avoid this day. However, Chester has a severe structural deficit that cannot be addressed by one-time fixes, has unaffordable retiree benefit liabilities, and cannot reliably provide vital and necessary services to its residents,” Doweary said in a written statement announcing the action.

Under the state’s Municipalities Financial Recovery Act, or Act 47, the receiver has the authority to file a bankruptcy action. Doweary is requesting the appointment of a judicial mediator to find “a consensus solution” to Chester’s issues.

“Chester’s financial and operational problems are by far the worst that my team of professionals has ever encountered. The status quo has not worked, is not working, and will not work. The residents of Chester deserve better,” Doweary said. Chester slipped into the Act 47 process in 1995. Instead of bouncing back, the city’s crisis only got worse. Gov. Tom Wolf declared a “fiscal emergency” in the city in 2020 and placed Chester under receivership.

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https://whyy.org/articles/chester-bankruptcy-receiver/

I heard this early this morning on the radio and it's just sad. This has been an almost 30-year decay of the city as much of the industry that it was involved in at one time being a Delaware River port city (and a gateway to the Delaware Bay), has moved away. Kimberly-Clark (owner of Scott brands toilet per, etc) is apparently still there and recently, a stadium (Subaru Park) that became the home of the Philadelphia Union soccer team, was located there.



But none of this has been enough. I am thinking that aside from the financial issues (and if we do get control of the state House, we might finally be able to move some resources there having gained more power in Harrisburg and able to pressure the state Senate to go along with investments in our urban manufacturing corridors). Perhaps planners can look at other "rust belt", formerly manufacturing-heavy cities/towns like what NJ has been doing with Camden, to start some revitalization.

The one big potential is the fact that after the pandemic established that the West Coast ports were becoming more and more unreliable in terms of operations and keeping supply chains open, there has actually been a move of some shipping traffic BACK to the east coast and other port cities here in the east have started to take advantage of that shipping traffic, and Chester could too. But they are going to have to deal with those pensions first and that is a killer subject that needs to be resolved.