Three California cities have filed for bankruptcy protection in the past month, and more could follow suit. As municipal money woes continue, experts say some cash-strapped municipalities may go out of business entirely.
San Bernardino this week became the third California city to go bankrupt, following Stockton and the resort town of Mammoth Lakes.
“There are likely to be more in the future, but it's hard to know, since a lot of struggling cities may manage to work things out,'' Michael Coleman, a fiscal policy advisor for the California League of Cities, told Thursday’s edition of the
Los Angeles Times.
“Some cities may not go into a bankruptcy, but they may dissolve. They may cease to exist,” Coleman said.
In San Bernardino, Mayor Patrick Morris says the struggling city may have to dissolve its fire department or portions of its police department.
"I think all possibilities should be on the table," Morris told the L.A. Times. "That includes privatizing services; that includes regionalizing services."
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