Bettye Fine is having a bad week

It has been a while since I wrote anything about Jefferson County, Alabama. (And almost every time I do, I get confused.) Let’s try this one:

Alabama County Set to Halt Services, Shut Buildings

Alabama’s most populous county is preparing to stop road maintenance, close courthouses and shutter services for the elderly after a court struck down taxes that pay for about 35 percent of its budget.

…

The proposed cuts, outlined in a series of proposed resolutions released today by Collins, would slash deeply into the government’s services and include closing a nursing home for the indigent, declaring a moratorium on enforcing zoning and littering laws, and scrapping local development contracts. They would also bring a halt to the enforcement of building codes, close the county’s laundry, and shut down the agency that assists senior citizens.

Well, that is hideous, and makes me want to see some bankers get lynched, but at least I understand it.

They will need to be voted upon by the Jefferson County Commission, a five-person body that has been divided over how to resolve unrelated financial problems brought on by the more than $3 billion debt of its sewer system, which is in default.

The county for more than a year has been unable to make the full payments on those bonds.

No, scratch that, I don’t understand. How can you be “in default” and “unable to make full payments” on your debt for over a year and not be in bankruptcy already?

Maybe this article will help:

Alabama County Seeks SEC Help in Crisis as Suit Looms

For more than a year, Jefferson County has struck deals with the creditors to allow it to avoid making full payments on the bonds and related interest-rate swaps.

…

At one point in the negotiations, creditors led by JPMorgan agreed to give up $1.3 billion, over half of which would come by ending the interest-rate swaps without penalty to the county, according to Collins’ letter. JPMorgan also agreed to contribute another $300 million in cash, she said.

I see. How kind of the creditors.

Sometimes I miss the days of lynch mobs, I really do.