Detroit Suburbs Balk at Spinning Off Water Works to Help City
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Time is running out for Detroit Emergency Manager Kevyn Orr to persuade suburban leaders and bondholders to help the city wring cash from its water-and-sewer system, a key to resolving its bankruptcy.
The Detroit-owned utility serves 127 area communities that now pay for its services. Talks to lease the system to a new regional authority that would generate revenue for municipal services are bedeviled by mistrust and the cost of upgrading a network that serves 40 percent of Michigan’s population across 1,079 square miles (2,795 square kilometers).