County files objection to Detroit's plan of adjustment

 Oakland County, under the leadership of County Executive L. Brooks Patterson and Water Resources Commissioner Jim Nash, filed a 40-page objection to the City of Detroit’s fourth plan of adjustment in U.S. Bankruptcy Court on Monday. The county’s filing said that Detroit’s plan of adjustment puts the Detroit Water & Sewerage Department (DWSD) and its city and suburban customers at risk fiscally and from potential infrastructure failures. As a result, the county has asked the bankruptcy court not to confirm the city’s plan.

“The City appears willing to engage in a game of chance, jeopardizing the DWSD, and thus the region, by putting the DWSD’s operations at risk. It does so by, among other things, stripping necessary funds from the water and sewer system at the expense of a healthy DWSD,” Oakland County said in its objection. “While the City has many needs to address, none can be more important than public health, safety, and welfare, including, the maintenance of a structurally and fiscally sound water and sewer system.”

Oakland County outlined numerous flaws in Detroit’s plan of adjustment with regard to DWSD, but summed them up in the conclusion of the objection:

“The Plan suffers from numerous legal and factual impediments to confirmation. …The financial condition of the DSWD remains questionable, at best, after the execution of the Plan. The assumptions in the Plan regarding necessary capital improvements, increased operating revenues, decreased operating costs, reduced costs of debt service, and monies to be available to fund its capital improvement needs are overly optimistic, in some cases inaccurate, and fail to consider capital market conditions and realities. Accordingly, the Plan is not feasible. Moreover, the Plan is not proposed in good faith and violates applicable law in several material respects.”

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