Is Memphis like bankrupt Detroit?
Bankruptcy in Detroit has many Memphians wondering if it could happen here. Mayor A C Wharton is addressing those concerns."We are a city that's dealing finishing up a plan to deal with its debt," he said.
Mayor Wharton told reporters Friday afternoon that it is not fair to compare Memphis to Detroit.
"Detroit was basically a one industry town, when the auto industry went down, the city went," he explained. "Fortunately we have a diverse economy which is becoming more diverse everyday."
But not everyone agrees with the mayor.
School Board Member Kenneth Whalum says the similarities between the two cities are obvious.
"And if we don't do something soon we're going to end up in the same place," said Whalum.
Whalum says three letters from the comptroller, combined with a decline in population, aggressive tax breaks, and crime are right in line with Detroit.
"Those are similarities that are eerie and anybody who denies that is just in denial," he argued.
So is the comparison between Detroit and Memphis a perception? Or a reality? It depends on who you ask.
"If it's not the same thing as Detroit, what is it?" said Whalum.
"I think the key difference though is that everybody in this town has recognized fully that all cities have to change," said Wharton.
Speaking of changes, Mayor A C Wharton says he met with the comptroller earlier this week and heard that Memphis is not yet out of the woods, though he says the city is headed in the right direction.
Additional points from the Mayor's remarks Friday:
• Although slightly below the national average (30.9 percent), [Memphis] has twice the percentage of citizens with Bachelor's degrees in Memphis (Memphis -26 percent versus Detroit's 12.2 percent).
• Detroit currently has only about 50,000 more citizens than we do in Memphis, but their budget for city government is about 5 times the size of Memphis' budget. For instance, they have over 13,000 city employees compared to our 7,000 or so employees.
• The city's pension plan is 74.4 percent funded as of our latest actuarial valuation date.
• As of the end of FY2012, Detroit's rainy day fund balance was -12.9 percent of its budget compared to 12.6 percent for the City of Memphis.
本报讯 美国的底特律市于2013年7月18日下午申请联邦破产（Chapter 9）保护，这座汽车城和曾经的音乐之都成为美国历史上规模最大的城市破产案主角。
该市在密歇根州东区美国破产法院依照破产法第九章申请破产保护。在此之前，该市紧急状态管理人奥尔(Kevyn Orr)未能与足够的债券持有人、养老基金和其他债权人就底特律的债务达成庭外重组协议。
最终决定取决于共和党出身的州长斯奈德(Rick Snyder)，他今年3月指派奥尔为底特律的财务监督者。斯奈德在密歇根州官方网站发布的一个视频中说，这是一个艰难且痛苦的决定，但我认为没有其他可行的选择。以底特律的衰落来看，当前形势已经酝酿了60年。从财务角度看，恕我直言：底特律已经破产。
底特律的申请破产让许多孟菲斯人不禁怀疑，财务状况一直不佳的孟菲斯是市否会成为下一个底特律？
关于这一问题，孟菲斯市市长AC沃顿于7月19日（周五）向记者表示，孟菲斯绝不会成为下一个底特律。他表示，虽然我们仍在努力克服城市的债务危机，但是与底特律经济的单一工业结构不同，孟菲斯拥有多样化的经济类型，并且一步一步朝着经济多样化前进。
但是，显然有人不同意市长沃顿的看法。学校董事会成员Kenneth Whalum认为，两座城市之间的相似处是显而易见并且令人害怕的，任何否认这些相似处的人都是在否认事实。同样是收到州财政审计官的三封警告信，同样是奉行激进的税收减免政策，同样的高人口流失率和犯罪率，让孟菲斯和底特律面临同样的困境。如果我们再不立即采取行动的话，那么孟菲斯势必将成为下一个底特律。
对于这些质疑，市长沃顿发表了自己的看法。他认为，现在孟菲斯与底特律最大的不同在于，这里的所有人都已经认识到是时候做出改变了。此外，虽然低于全美30.9%的平均水平，孟菲斯市居民大学文凭所占的比率还是要比底特律的12.2%高出一倍，达到26%；虽然底特律目前的总人口比孟菲斯市多出5万人，但是他们的市政府财政预算规模是孟菲斯市的五倍之多，例如底特律共有1万3千名政府工作人员，而孟菲斯市却只有不到7000人；同时，自最近的一次保险估值后，孟菲斯市的养老金计划已完成74.4%，而截至2012年年底，孟菲斯市的雨天基金（Rainy Day Fund），也称为应急基金的余额为当年财政预算的12.6%，而底特律地区则达到12.9%。因此，我们有信心、有责任不让孟菲斯成为下一个底特律。
孟菲斯今天的财务状况，并非沃顿市长造成，前市长在任期间的16年中，让孟菲斯市乏善可陈。这个曾经是田纳西州的龙头老大，完全失去了往日的风光。大量中产和富裕阶层的迁出，房地产的没落，治安的衰败，让孟菲斯的财务状况每况愈下。这些和底特律有着异曲同工之处。不过，谢尔比郡的状况还不至于恶劣，看来谢尔比郡的其他城市需要担当起部分拯救孟菲斯的重任了。（阳光报道）
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