The Birmingham News reported on Sunday that Alabama’s Jefferson County’s financial options are quickly shrinking after a large credit downgrade late Friday left the cash-strapped county with few options and increased the chances of bankruptcy. The abrupt downgrading of the county’s sewer bonds to junk status by Standard & Poor’s sent county officials scrambling… Moody’s Investors Service last week said Jefferson County’s menagerie of complex financial structures is unprecedented and that the county is teetering on default; furthermore they noted that its situation is opaque to outsiders who can’t get updated information from commissioners… The crisis stems from the collapse of Jefferson County’s sewer bonds.
Speaking as a Alabama native, both Birmingham (county seat) and Jefferson County are falling into…. disrepair. Birmingham only narrowly avoided having its school system taken over by the state. See here So, no, I don’t know what’s going on in JeffCo, but it makes me sad to watch it happen.
As a Jefferson County resident, I have been watching this trainwreck for years! I’m personally looking forward to County-wide bankruptcy. Hopefully, very soon, the rest of the county commission will be indicted (along with our illustrius Bham mayor) and we can start with a clean slate. I wouldn’t mind my $100 water bill so much if I thought the money wasn’t just going down the toilet! Ahh the sweet, sweet relief of receivership!