Detroit bankruptcy

Detroit will float $119 million of water and sewer bonds through the state's revolving fund under a resolution approved Thursday by the financial commission that oversees the post-bankrupt city.

U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Steven Rhodes has approved $183 million of fees charged by professionals during the city's bankruptcy, in a ruling that heaps praise on the attorneys and consultants who worked on the city's behalf.

A day after Wayne County officials warned of a grim financial picture, Moody's Investors Service stripped the county of its investment-grade rating and Fitch Ratings put its already junk-bond ratings on negative watch.

Fitch Ratings, which already maintains junk ratings on Wayne County, Mich., put the ratings on a negative watch just hours after the release of a new audit that warns the county could be out of cash by next summer.

The newly elected head of Wayne County Michigan, home to Detroit, warned Thursday that the county is on track to run out of cash by August 2016, calling it “financial Armageddon.”

It could be a crucial year for Detroit Public Schools as Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder, Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan and a newly created coalition of Detroit leaders take on problems at the long-troubled district.

Jones Day, the law firm that oversaw Detroit's bankruptcy, said it cut its fee by $18 million, leaving a $58 million final tab that it defended as reasonable given the "cutting-edge" nature of the Chapter 9 case.

Lazard Freres, which represented retirees in the Detroit bankruptcy, said it agreed to a 37% fee reduction as part of court-ordered mediation.

In a written ruling outlining his verbal affirmation of Detroit's bankruptcy exit plan, the federal bankruptcy judge overseeing the case warned that if Michigan does not act to assure that cities can pay their pensions, it may mean a repeat of the high-profile bankruptcy.

The Motor City paid $170 million in attorney and advisor fees during the largest municipal bankruptcy in the U.S.

Standard & Poor's gave an investment-grade A-minus rating to a series of bonds Detroit recently sold as part of its exit from bankruptcy.

One week after its emergency from Chapter 9 bankruptcy, Moody's Investors Service has assigned Detroit an issuer credit rating that's deep in junk bond territory at the B3 level.

Detroit has just under two weeks to submit and disclose the final tab of its 17-month bankruptcy after attorneys and advisors agreed in mediation to reduce their fees.

Detroit issued $1.28 billion of new debt that its bond team says required novel financing structures to satisfy both Michigan municipal law and the strict confines of Chapter 9 creditor settlements.

The largest municipal bankruptcy in the U.S. formally ends at 12:01 a.m. Dec. 11, and Detroit will begin fresh with local control and $7 billion less debt.

Detroit emergency manager Kevyn Orr said he is leaving the city with a new budget that would have a $100 million surplus after two years.

Detroit emergency manager Kevyn Orr said he plans to resign from his position in the new few weeks and that he hopes the city will be allowed to formally exit bankruptcy by Christmas.

The state of Michigan may come to market in the next several weeks with a $450 million bond deal to finance a controversial new hockey stadium in Detroit.

The federal judge overseeing Detroit's bankruptcy has ordered mediation to resolve a dispute over the city's legal bills, which total $140 million and are climbing.

Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder has hired public finance veteran and former New York Lt. Gov. Richard Ravitch to act as senior financial advisor for a new financial review board that will oversee Detroit's finances as the city emerges from bankruptcy.