DETROIT – It's been one year since Local 4 broke the news Detroit had filed for Chapter 9 bankruptcy -- the largest city to ever file for municipal bankruptcy protection.
A year into the process, Detroit is farther along than virtually every so-called expert predicted.
"We're further along than any other municipal bankruptcy has been to date, and we're much bigger and complicated than those other bankruptcies that have come along," said Bill Nowling, spokesman for Emergency Manager Kevyn Orr.
Orr and his team will go to federal court in mid-August to try and get final approval for the plan of adjustment. That's the city's blueprint out of bankruptcy.
Already, Orr has made deals with the vast majority of the city's creditors. There's a long-range financial plan in place for the next 10 years for Detroit based on real numbers and real projections.
In addition to making sense out of the mess the city's books were in, Orr had to address the disaster that had been city services. He's privatized and improved trash collection, had 50,000 new light bulbs installed and dealt with perhaps the greatest threat to the city's ultimate turnaround by hiring new Police Chief James Craig.
"He's turned the police department around. Morale is up, major crimes are down," said Nowling.
When will it all finally be over? Potentially by October.