Heads up: Debt on arrival
By Wade Kwon
Jefferson County has never been in more financial trouble. Thanks to years of bonds and swaps, the interest payments have escalated to $3.2 billion (never mind the principal) on the infamous sewer improvements. Those bonds have been downgraded to junk status. And don’t forget an extra $1.4 billion owed, originally borrowed for school construction. Meanwhile, county commissioners are scratching their heads just figuring out how to pay the tab, even sending representatives to New York to beg for help from creditors. It’s a crazy system, one that has states and cities fighting these seemingly arbitrary bond ratings.
In case you were unfamiliar with the guilty parties, let us reacquaint you with the commissioners who favored these pricey deals: Mary Buckelew, Bettye Fine Collins, Jeff Germany, Larry Langford (under investigation by the SEC), Steve Small, Shelia Smoot and Gary White (convicted for corruption). As the county goes broke, we’ll be over here, digging for change in the couch.
• The Birmingham News: Sewer-bond debt crisis gets uglier
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