Under a new law that deals with municipal bankruptcy, the Town of Mammoth Lakes could declare a state of fiscal emergency and go directly to bankruptcy proceedings. Mammoth has chosen the other alternative in that law – neutral evaluation and mediation with creditors.
Asked about the choice the Town of Mammoth has made, Assistant Town Manager Marianna Marysheva-Martinez said that Assembly Bill 506 says neutral evaluation of finances is a required precursor of bankruptcy. She said, “It allows us to review financial issues and creditors.”
Martinez indicated that declaration of a fiscal emergency is premature. She said that this kind of declaration would be appropriate if the Town were eager to declare bankruptcy. She said the Town “wants to deal with creditors and mainly with MLLA.”
Martinez also said that even with the writ issued by the court demanding full payment to MLLA, the Town still has time – until June 30th to “hopefully reach a settlement with MLLA.”
AB506 says that declaration of a fiscal emergency would require findings that “the financial state of the local public entity jeopardizes the health, safety or well-being of the residents of the local public entity’s jurisdiction or service area absent bankruptcy protections.”
Asked if the Town of Mammoth would qualify for fiscal emergency status, Martinez said the $42 million outstanding debt would quality the Town if it has to be paid immediately. This would be a threat to everyone, she said. She called it a “possible hypothetical.” The Assistant Town Manager said, “This is real but we hope MLLA will return to the table and settle on something we can pay.”
Stockton BK update: http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-04-13/stockton-police-lose-bid-to-restore-accrued-vacation-pay-1-.html
tick, tock, tick, tock……..
The MLLA has nothing invested in Mammoth Lakes. They purchased a lawsuit for a undisclosed amount and ran with it. They should be looked at as criminals. A hotel at the airport, WTF. Crippling a town for these criminals should not be an option. The first jury in this case… Read more »
MLLA are very savvy business people, not criminals.
The criminals and greedy are all the businesses in TOML that hire illegals and pay them under the table.
You’re paying for it through so you call it what ever you want. Just write the check.
I can seem to spell though without adding that darn r.
Either way, I’d rather have MLLA managing my money then TOML.
NICE JOB!
Thanks for keeping the Town of Mammoth informed.
Judging by the quotes from MMM, TOML continues to operate with the mindset that MLLA should be sympathetic and reasonable, and be a team player in accepting, as MMM is quoted as saying, “something we can pay.” That perspective should have faded away months ago, when MLLA went public with… Read more »
Thoughtful post but your ideas are probably not possible to implement. For example, the annexing of MMSA into the town. That sounds to me (what do I know) immensely complicated given that the land is public land held in (supposedly) public trust. As for the lift ticket surcharge (or tax)… Read more »
Ken, thanks for your feedback. Observer’s parenthetical point wasn’t that annexation was necessarily required, but that the Town needs to move forward with whatever action is needed to institute an amusement tax that encompasses lift tickets. (No other serious source of cash comes immediately to mind.) As to your implied… Read more »
Creating yet another tax is a really hard sell. Trying to craft a tax that only targets “visitors” seems next to impossible. It would take some clever thinking and I don’t see a lot of clever lately. Here’s an idea that just now popped into my brain so take it… Read more »
If all business interest were reporting their accurate sales and payroll taxes, there wouldn’t be a need for a recreation tax. It’s greedy and shortsighted to tax others to always pay our way. Tourist and second home owners already $upport this town, enough of soaking the very people we depend… Read more »
I agree with your sentiments — mostly. We have a government by the people — but it is focused on business. It’s like an extension of the Chamber of Commerce. You make a giant leap from the current business oriented government to a community focused government (which I like) without… Read more »
Unfortunatly the people of the town keep voting for the same people.