Detroit reached a key step in fiscal redemption on Monday by reclaiming control of its own finances roughly three years after exiting the largest municipal bankruptcy in U.S. history. A state review commission unanimously agreed to release the city from state financial oversight after Detroit delivered three consecutive years of audited balanced budgets. The city was about $12 billion in debt and unable to deliver basic services like prompt responses to 911 calls and park maintenance when the state took financial management.
“Detroit is once again finally a city of full self-governance,” Mayor Mike Duggan said following the commission’s vote.
The change means that when contracts are approved by the City Council, Detroit won’t have to wait for the commission to approve them. But the city must still submit monthly financial reports to the commission, which will continue to monitor Detroit’s fiscal health for the next 10 years and could resume oversight if a budget deficit occurs.
After restructuring about $7 billion in debt and setting aside $1.7 billion in savings and revenue over a decade to improve city services, Detroit exited bankruptcy in December 2014.
