In re City of Bridgeport

132 B.R. 85
United States Bankruptcy Court, D. Connecticut·Decided September 24, 1991·No. Bankruptcy No. 91-51519·Published·Cited by 1 cases

Opinion

MEMORANDUM ON MOTION FOR RELIEF FROM ORDER UNDER RULE 60(b) FED.R.CIV.P.

ALAN H.W. SHIFF, Bankruptcy Judge.

On September 3, 1991, the City of Bridgeport filed a notice of appeal from this court’s August 1, 1991 order sustaining the objection by the State of Connecticut and the Bridgeport Financial Review Board (together the “State”) to Bridgeport’s chapter 9 petition and dismissing Bridgeport’s petition. In re City of Bridgeport, 129 B.R. 332, 21 B.C.D. 1546 (Bankr.D.Conn.1991). Bridgeport now moves in this court under Rule 60(b) Fed.R.Civ.P., made applicable by Bankruptcy Rule 9024, for relief from that August 1 order. The issues presented are whether the State has changed its position on Bridgeport’s right to use cash from a bond fund and, if so, should the August 1 order be altered or amended. For the reasons that follow, I conclude that if I had jurisdiction to enter an order on the instant motion, it would be denied.1

BACKGROUND

A discussion of Bridgeport's financial dynamics and the State’s participation in providing a measure of relief to the City is useful to set the context in which the August 1 order entered.

1.

Prepetition

Bridgeport, Connecticut, with a population of over 140,000, is Connecticut’s largest city. Like many cities in the northeast, Bridgeport has been in financial decline for much of the past decade. Between January 1, 1986 and April 1, 1988, seven manufacturing firms which employed more than 1,700 people left the City. By July, 1989, between four and five million square feet of factory building space was empty. While a service-based economy has emerged and grown, the loss of manufacturing has resulted in a loss of tax revenue because manufacturing is generally more capital intensive than services. Thus, as manufacturing has declined Bridgeport has grown increasingly reliant on residential property taxes, which increased from 52.7% of its total tax base in 1981 to 59.9% in 1986. Bridgeport now has the highest effective tax rate in Connecticut. While Bridgeport’s ability to increase revenue declined so did aid from the federal government. At the same time, programs which serve an increasingly dependent population expanded. July 16 Hearing, Bridgeport Exs. F, TTT.

Bridgeport’s financial condition reached a crisis in its 1987-1988 fiscal year. The City was unable to pay bills as they became due, it had lost access to the bond markets, and in the previous two fiscal years it had accumulated a deficit of approximately $35,000,000.00. TV. July 19, at 44, 126. Bridgeport was “in the condition in which without outside intervention, it clearly could not continue to operate as a city.” TV. July 19, at 126 (testimony of David Carson).

The State of Connecticut responded to that crisis by enacting Special Act No. 88-80 on June 9, 1988. Section 1 of that Special Act, as amended 2 (Special Act No. 88-80 and its amendments are hereafter referred to as “the Special Act”), provides:

It is hereby found and declared that a financial emergency exists in the town and city of Bridgeport, that the continued existence of this financial emergency [87]*87is detrimental to the general welfare of the city and the state, [and] that the town and city’s continued ability to borrow in the public credit markets and the resolution of this financial emergency is a matter of paramount public inter-est_

Section 9 of the Special Act created the Bridgeport Financial Review Board (“the FRB”) to “review the financial affairs of the town and city of Bridgeport ... in order to maintain access to the public credit markets, to fund the city’s accumulated deficits and to restore financial stability to the town and city of Bridgeport.” Special Act, § 1. Section 3 of the Special Act authorized Bridgeport to issue bonds for the purpose of funding approximately $35,-000,000.00 in budget deficits, incurred in the 1985-1986 and 1986-1987 fiscal years, and creating a reserve fund (hereinafter “the Bond Fund”). The Bond Fund was created to remedy Bridgeport’s chronic cash flow problems, which had required it to issue tax anticipation notes at high interest rates and pay vendors over extended periods of time. TV. July 19, at 39. Section 3 provides in part:

The net proceeds of such bonds shall be applied first to repay the principal of and interest on outstanding notes issued in anticipation thereof, second to repay any tax anticipation notes of the city issued and outstanding, third to fund capital account deficits arising from the use of such funds for operations and fourth to fund general fund deficits.

Special Act, § 3.

Provisions of sections 11, 12, and 13 of the Special Act mandate that Bridgeport have a balanced budget, i.e., that its revenues equal its expenditures in a given fiscal year. Section 11(b) provides that if the FRB rejects a budget proposed by Bridgeport or the City fails to submit a budget to the FRB for approval, the FRB shall formulate and adopt a budget to be effective until it approves a budget submitted by Bridgeport and the Bridgeport Common Council shall adopt the tax rate required to balance that interim budget. Section 11(b)(7) provides that the current fiscal year budget shall be regularly reexamined by the FRB and that the City shall make modifications to the budget during the fiscal year if the original revenue or expenditure projections prove inaccurate. Section 21(a) of the Special Act provides in part:

The board ... may apply for a writ of mandamus authorizing any official, employee or agent of the city to carry out or give effect to any order or request of the board authorized by this act.

In January, 1989, Bridgeport issued $58,-315,000.00 in bonds. Pursuant to the Special Act approximately $35,000,000.00 was used to eliminate Bridgeport’s accumulated deficit, and the remainder formed the Bond Fund. TV. July 19, at 39-40.

Bridgeport’s budgets for fiscal years 1988-1989 and 1989-1990 were in balance, and the City actually finished both years with a small audited surplus. The 1990-1991 fiscal year budget was projected to be balanced, but during that fiscal year the FRB found that an imbalance had developed and ordered Bridgeport to eliminate it. On March 18, 1991, after Bridgeport had failed to act, the FRB obtained a state court order to show cause why a temporary order of mandamus should not issue. Sept. 12 Hearing, Bridgeport Ex. 6. The FRB and Bridgeport subsequently compromised their dispute, and it is likely that the City ended the 1990-1991 fiscal year in balance.3

On June 3, 1991, Bridgeport's Common Council adopted a budget for the 1991-1992 fiscal year which projects expenditures of $320,225,926 and revenues of $304,180,156, yielding a budget deficit of $16,045,770. Revenues include $169,320,162 of non-tax revenues and property tax revenues of $134,859,994, based on a mill rate of 63.3. July 16 Hearing, Bridgeport Ex. R.

2.

Postpetition

On June 6, 1991, Bridgeport filed a petition under chapter 9 of the Bankruptcy [88]*88Code. On June 7, the FRB passed a resolution, pursuant to § 11(b) of the Special Act, adopting an interim budget.

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In re City of Bridgeport, 132 B.R. 85 (Conn. 1991).

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In Re City of Bridgeport
132 B.R. 85 (D. Connecticut, 1991)