Third Calif. city files for bankruptcy protection
(CBS/AP) SAN BERNARDINO, Calif. - San Bernardino officials filed an emergency petition for Chapter 9 bankruptcy in response to the $45.8 million budget shortfall the city faces this year, making official a move the City Council approved last month.
Interim City Manager Andrea Travis-Miller said Tuesday's filing won't affect essential service to the community, and there are no immediate reductions or changes planned.
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Travis-Miller said city officials are working on a plan for the city's operational budget during bankruptcy, and once the plan is complete reductions may occur.
Travis-Miller hopes to submit a plan for the City Council's consideration within the next three weeks.
The city of 210,000 people declared a fiscal emergency July 18, becoming the third California city to declare insolvency this year. In June, Stockton and Mammoth Lakes also declared bankruptcy.
(Watch Tracy's story at left)
"We have a host of our residents who are not working, not paying taxes, don't have disposable income so they are not shopping," Mayor Patrick Morris told Tracy. "That's a problem for us."
Morris, however, was optimistic that online retailer Amazon was about to open a big warehouse in San Bernardino, which was expected to create 1,000 jobs.