The fate of Vallejo - official motto: “City of Opportunity” - has sent shock waves across the country as scores of other local authorities also struggle to balance the books in the face of slumping incomes.
Councillors took the drastic step because falling property tax revenues mean they can no longer pay the generous salaries negotiated for firefighters and police officers during the flush years.
Fearful of contagion, municipal officials across the US are looking with nervousness at the precedent-setting experience of Vallejo, a city of about 120,000 people, 30 miles north of San Francisco. in a region that was once synonymous with economic prosperity. >>>>
Californian city of Vallejo declared bankrupt
telegraph