LOS ANGELES — Reports last week that the fiscally stressed city of North Las Vegas was pushing for Nevada legislation to authorize Chapter 9 bankruptcy filings were "factually inaccurate," according to Ryann Juden, a city spokesman.
"There is no push for any bill, or even a discussion about a specific bankruptcy bill," Juden said.
Nevada cities currently have no authorization to file for bankruptcy.
Mayor John Lee had asked about what needed to be done to fix Nevada's law governing municipal receivership and the mayor responded that "it was flawed, but not written to fix large municipal problems and the law needs to be reformed," according to Juden.
He responded "yes, everything should be on the table," in response to a question involving Chapter 9 bankruptcy and how to make existing laws better, Juden said.
The city passed a $481 million budget on May 20 after securing needed concessions from unions.
The city of 222,000 has junk ratings from all three rating agencies. Fitch Ratings rates the city's $400 million in limited-tax general obligation bonds a B. The bonds are rated Ba3 by Moody's Investors' Service and BB-minus by Standard & Poor's.
In a report issued on May 5, Fitch said the city faces factors common in the financial struggles of Harrisburg, Stockton and Detroit.
Those factors included flawed financial decisions, rigid and escalating cost structures, revenue raising limitations and weak economic conditions playing out over several years, according to Fitch analysts.
While not in default, the city is nearing fiscal insolvency, according to Fitch analysts.
