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Chapter 9, Title 11, United States Code is a chapter of the United States Bankruptcy Code, available exclusively to municipalities and assisting them in the restructuring of their debt. On July 18, 2013, Detroit, Michigan became the largest city in the history of the United States to file for Chapter 9 Bankruptcy protection. Jefferson County, Alabama, in 2011 and Orange County, California, in 1994 are also notable examples. "The term 'municipality' denotes a political subdivision or public agency or instrumentality of a State."
Contents
- History
- Features of Chapter 9
- Collective bargaining
- Authorization for filing of municipal bankruptcies
- Partial list of municipal bankruptcies
- Municipalities placed under receivership
- Hospital and health care district Chapter 9 bankruptcies
- Other entities that declared Chapter 9 bankruptcy
- Chapter 9 bankruptcy petitions that were filed but voluntarily dismissed
- Petitions for Chapter 9 relief that were denied
- Notable defaults that did not result in Chapter 9 bankruptcy
- Notable bankruptcies that were declared ineligible for Chapter 9 bankruptcy
- References
History
From 1937 to 2008 there were fewer than 600 municipal bankruptcies. As of June 2012 the total was around 640. In 2012 there were twelve chapter 9 bankruptcies in the United States, and five petitions have been filed in 2013. Since 2010, 36 petitions have been filed.
Previous to the creation of Chapter 9 bankruptcy, the only remedy when a municipality was unable to pay its creditors was for the creditors to pursue an action of mandamus, and compel the municipality to raise taxes. During the Great Depression, this approach proved impossible, so in 1934, the Bankruptcy Act was amended to extend to municipalities. The 1934 Amendment was declared unconstitutional in Ashton v. Cameron County Water District.
However, a revised act remedying the constitutional deficiencies was passed again by Congress in 1937 and codified as Chapter X of the Bankruptcy Act (later redesignated as Chapter IX). This revised act was upheld as constitutional by the Supreme Court in United States v. Bekins.
Chapter IX was largely unchanged until it was amended in 1976 in response to New York City's financial crisis. The changes made in 1976 were adopted nearly identically in the modern 1978 Bankruptcy Code as Chapter 9.
In 1988, Chapter 9 was amended by Congress to provide statutory protection from § 552(a) lien stripping provisions to revenue bonds issued by municipalities. This was addressed with the classification of these bonds as "special revenues" under the newly minted § 928(a) and § 922(d) exemption of special revenues from the automatic stay provisions of § 362.
To prevent overlap with Chapter 11, § 101(41) of the U.S. Bankruptcy Code (11 U.S.C. § 101(41)) defines the term "person" to exclude many "governmental units" as defined in § 101(27), and "municipality" as defined in § 101(40).
Features of Chapter 9
While in many ways similar to other forms of bankruptcy reorganization (esp. Chapter 11), Chapter 9 has a number of unique characteristics. Because municipalities are entities of State governments, the power of the bankruptcy court is limited to some extent by the Tenth Amendment to the United States Constitution.
Collective bargaining
Municipalities' ability to re-write collective bargaining agreements is much greater than in a corporate Chapter 11 bankruptcy and can trump state labor protections, allowing cities to renegotiate unsustainable pension or other benefits packages negotiated in flush times.
Authorization for filing of municipal bankruptcies
Section 109(c) of the U.S. Bankruptcy Code provides that a municipality may be a debtor in a Chapter 9 bankruptcy case only if the municipality is specifically authorized to be a debtor by State law, or by a governmental officer or organization empowered by State law to authorize the municipality to be a debtor. Municipalities in 26 states must seek enactment of a specific statute particular to it authorizing the filing.
New Jersey, Connecticut, and Kentucky simply give a state appointed official or body the power to approve a filing.
Partial list of municipal bankruptcies
Note: Larger bankruptcies are in bold
Municipalities placed under receivership
The city of Central Falls, Rhode Island petitioned to be put into receivership in 2010, as Rhode Island does not generally permit Chapter 9 filings. The state appointed receiver or overseer assumed all financial responsibilities from the mayor. Rhode Island's receivership law was rewritten to allow the receiver the ability to file a petition for Chapter 9 federal bankruptcy and Central Falls has done that.
Hospital and health care district Chapter 9 bankruptcies
A hospital or health care district is a governmental entity, generally with taxing authority, that owns and operates medical facilities. Some examples of health care district Chapter 9 bankruptcies are: