Top Bell aide says Toledo likely to face 'fiscal emergency'
Potential strategy to secure labor concessions disputed


Unless there is a fundamental change in the way Toledo's government operates, the
city will likely be unable to pay its employees before the year is through, a top official in
the Bell administration warned.

That looming financial disaster leads people such as Mayor Mike Bell and Councilman D. Michael
Collins to throw out words like "bankruptcy" or "receivership," two feared terms but ones
that are not likely to become reality.

The truth is that receivership or bankruptcy is probably not an option for the city anytime
soon. But being slapped by the state as a "fiscal emergency" municipality is a real threat - a
label some dislike but others advise Toledo to embrace given its $48 million deficit.


http://toledoblade.com/article/20100.../0/COLUMNIST39