CREDIT: PERSHGO VIA WIKIMEDIA
It was a big news this week when the state decided to end its oversight of Detroit's finances.
The Detroit News says in an editorial:
Detroit’s emergence from state oversight last week marked one of the most significant fiscal achievements in the city’s history. For the first time in four decades, Detroit is in full control of its fate.
That’s a remarkable landmark, and one few could foresee in 2013 when the city, under state emergency management, filed for bankruptcy.
Rather than sounding a death knell for Detroit, the Chapter 9 filing triggered the start of a remarkable five-year fiscal turnaround for the city, aided by the washing away of most of its debt.
To end state oversight, the city had to post three years of budget surpluses. It completed its third year on Wednesday, and was released from the day-to-day monitoring of its finances by a state Financial Advisory Board.
Prior to the state takeover, the city’s water and sewer department had been under a federal monitor for environmental violations for more than three decades. And its school system had also had a state financial manager for nearly 20 years.
