DETROIT (AP) – A lawyer for Detroit has urged a judge to approve a plan to get out of bankruptcy, calling it a sweeping effort to revive the city by cutting billions in debt and putting more than $1 billion into better services.
Bruce Bennett summed up the city’s case Monday, nearly two months after the trial started. Judge Steven Rhodes will decide next week whether Detroit’s exit plan is fair and feasible.
Bennett calls it a “comprehensive” strategy “to solve some really bad problems.”
Key elements include a 4.5 percent pension cut for general retirees, who voted in favor earlier this year.
Detroit filed for bankruptcy in July 2013, the largest public filing in U.S. history. If the judge agrees, the city would like to be out before Thanksgiving.