[Matrix2791]

With the mill rate being as high as it is, I can't see raising taxes as being an option. Borrowing will only be a short term fix. State takeover?

Bankruptcy for Hartford Considered Final Option | NBC Connecticut

Hartford Mayor Luke Bronin wouldn't rule out the possibility of the City of Hartford filing for a municipal bankruptcy, but did say he's trying to stave off such a possibility.
"(In Connecticut) we ask a city like Hartford which has real city problems to run itself on a property tax base which actually has less taxable property than the town of Glastonbury or the town of West Hartford or the Town of Manchester. That’s a system that’s fundamentally broken.”

NBC Connecticut asked Bronin earlier in the year about the prospect of a bankruptcy earlier in 2016 when he released his city budget proposal for the 2017 fiscal year.
The Hartford Courant raised the question Monday morning in an editorial about the city's dragging finances, especially in light of a city report detailing how the $56 million stadium and neighborhood development has ballooned into a $102 million taxpayer funded debacle. The stadium alone will cost taxpayers more than $71 million, if it evers gets completed.
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UConn Law Professor Dalie Jimenez teaches classes about contracts and bankruptcy. She wouldn't speak specifically about Hartford's finances but did say that filing for what's known as Chapter 9, is a drastic step for a city to take.
“You’re in so deep that you need outside help," she said. The filing would protect the city from creditors looking to collect on the debt they had purchased from the city.

"They bought it because they thought you were a good bet that you would be able to get what you told them you would be able to get.”
Bronin has previously advocated for labor concessions, city service and staffing cuts, and more recently help from Hartford's neighbors in rescuing it from fiscal ruin.
Drugmakers Fought State Opioid Limits Amid Crisis
"We’re willing to make the hard decisions we have to make. We have no lack of political will and we’re willing to go after even the most sacred cows but when you’ve got a system like ours that’s just broken, where you have gaps of $50 and $120 million looming in the future, you’ve got to change things now if we’re going to succeed as a state and as a region by having a city that is the center for energy and for economic growth," he said.
Bronin said raising taxes isn't a possibility because the taxes in Hartford are already the highest in the state.

“On the tax front I think taxes have been raised so much over the past years that we’re probably past that point and that’s why this conversation is so urgent, it’s so immediate that if we as a state and as a region want to have a strong Capital City, we’ve got to come together in a different way."
Jimenez, with UConn Law, explained that legally the city could only file for bankruptcy with permission from the state of Connecticut.

She said it would truly be viewed as the final option in order to save the city's finances, but she did warn that it's only a first step toward a path to fiscal sustainability.
"Just because you file for bankruptcy that doesn't make you more profitable or run better," Jimenez said. "All you get is temporary protection from those who own your debt."

Source: Bankruptcy for Hartford Considered Final Option | NBC Connecticut

[Mr_250]

Yes
Easy question.

[BPt111]

Originally Posted by Matrix2791

With the mill rate being as high as it is, I can't see raising taxes as being an option. Borrowing will only be a short term fix. State takeover?

Bankruptcy for Hartford Considered Final Option | NBC Connecticut



Source: Bankruptcy for Hartford Considered Final Option | NBC Connecticut

Bridgeport, New Haven, Waterbury is not far behind

[hartford_renter]

I have been telling everyone that CT is going to go bankrupt so yes Hartford can also go bankrupt.

And don't listen to people who say that 'states can't go bankrupt'. This is a flat out lie. All it means is that states can't negotiate a default using existing bankruptcy laws. So what?

When there is no money left the holders of the debt do not get their money. Call it what you will but the state will have to reach a settlement and bondholders are going to lose money, people with pensions are going to get a huge cut in benefits.

The horse left the stable about 10 years ago on this one

[ayoskillz]

Originally Posted by hartford_renter

I have been telling everyone that CT is going to go bankrupt so yes Hartford can also go bankrupt.

And don't listen to people who say that 'states can't go bankrupt'. This is a flat out lie. All it means is that states can't negotiate a default using existing bankruptcy laws. So what?

When there is no money left the holders of the debt do not get their money. Call it what you will but the state will have to reach a settlement and bondholders are going to lose money, people with pensions are going to get a huge cut in benefits.

The horse left the stable about 10 years ago on this one

Ct or hartford would never go bankrupt. But its a difference. Maybe they will file bankruptcy like Donald Trump. Cant see them filling bankruptcy saying they dont have anything because yet the state is still spending noney building roads/bridges ect. Also a city that is going broke wouldn't pay for that new staduim they just built in hartford.

[Wilton2ParkAve]

Originally Posted by ayoskillz

Ct or hartford would never go bankrupt. But its a difference. Maybe they will file bankruptcy like Donald Trump. Cant see them filling bankruptcy saying they dont have anything because yet the state is still spending noney building roads/bridges ect. Also a city that is going broke wouldn't pay for that new staduim they just built in hartford.

Give it a rest. Trump has never filed bankruptcy. Period. Full stop.

Four businesses that bear his name have filed for bankruptcy (in several situations he was no longer involved day to day). The company bankruptcies were Chapter 11 reorganizations (named for its location in federal bankruptcy code), which are designed to restructure businesses without shutting them down completely (i.e. Chapter 7). The purpose is to "save" the business, as opposed to other forms of bankruptcy which would liquidate the company. Hotels/casinos are very levered businesses that also have "daily" rents and as a result are frequency in reorganization (Caesar's is currently in Chapter 11--- they are still a dominant force in the LV scene).

[ayoskillz]

Originally Posted by Wilton2ParkAve

Give it a rest. Trump has never filed bankruptcy. Period. Full stop.

Four businesses that bear his name have filed for bankruptcy (in several situations he was no longer involved day to day). The company bankruptcies were Chapter 11 reorganizations (named for its location in federal bankruptcy code), which are designed to restructure businesses without shutting them down completely (i.e. Chapter 7). The purpose is to "save" the business, as opposed to other forms of bankruptcy which would liquidate the company. Hotels/casinos are very levered businesses that also have "daily" rents and as a result are frequency in reorganization (Caesar's is currently in Chapter 11--- they are still a dominant force in the LV scene).

If hartford files for bankruptcy it would be chapter 9. That means more city services would be cut and and increase in taxes around the board. Samething happend in Detroit a while back with people complaining because taxes were higher but was getting less city services. It gets worse if a handfull of people move during that times because that puts the city in a bad position and the remaining residents have to cover their part

[MrGompers]

Chapter 11 is still a bankruptcy that is filed in bankruptcy court. If the business can not reorganize it moves into chapter 7.

[hartford_renter]

Originally Posted by ayoskillz

Ct or hartford would never go bankrupt. But its a difference. Maybe they will file bankruptcy like Donald Trump. Cant see them filling bankruptcy saying they dont have anything because yet the state is still spending noney building roads/bridges ect. Also a city that is going broke wouldn't pay for that new staduim they just built in hartford.

I started a whole thread on the looming CT bankruptcy but it got closed about a year ago

At this point I think its not a question of if but when? I can't say when bankruptcy will begin but my guess is it will likely start when there is no longer the political will to raise taxes further and the interest on the existing debt along with annual spending exceeds our tax base.

My guess is probably 10 years

Right now about 25% of all the state budget is spent on health care for the poor aka welfare. Not sure how much the other welfare programs cost.

Suffice it to say that most of the taxes are in essence redistribution from workers to nonworkers. The state of CT has become a method of plunder for the poor. As I have said many times this is appalling because it goes against the idea of freedom that this country was founded on.

and as we can see from the countless threads high taxes are driving away companies and bankrupting the state

We will become another Detroit its too late to turn back

[HumpDay]

Hartford can only tax roughly 50% of all the properties within the city so the state helps them keep their budget in the black. The state is also in trouble so Hartford doesn't have many options. Even though we have an extremely high mill rate, we also saw a slight decrease so residents saved money this year on the car tax. Good news for us, but bad news for them. I've been a city resident in the West End for over 3 decades and our finances haven't always been too great to begin with. There's a lot of corruption. Hartford lost out when many wealthy taxpayers left the city to head towards the suburbs, while at the same time attracting the lower class. The trend still continues but my area is pretty wealthy and it's the only known one left in the area.