DETROIT – As part of the city of Detroit?s Chapter 9 bankruptcy petition filing, Governor Rick Snyder in a four-page letter outlines his reasons for allowing the city to do so, saying it is the only ?reasonable way? to address the city?s insolvency.

?I have reached the conclusion that this step is necessary after a thorough review of all the available alternatives, and I authorize this necessary step as a last resort to return this great city to financial and civic health for its residents and taxpayers,? Snyder says. ?I know many will see this as a low point in the city?s history. If so, I think it will also be the foundation of the city?s future ? a statement I cannot make in confidence absent giving the city a chance for a fresh start, without burdens of debt it cannot hope to fully pay.?

Snyder said based on Detroit Emergency Manager Kevyn Orr?s request to him to allow a bankruptcy filing, Orr?s plan and the report to the city?s creditors, he has concluded the city cannot meet its basic obligations to its residents and creditors.

Further, Snyder says the only feasible path to ensuring the city can meet its obligations is through the bankruptcy process.

In laying out the case, Snyder cites the city?s high unemployment rate, homicide rate, average police response time of 58 minutes, faltering emergency vehicles, widespread street lighting outages and approximately 78,000 abandoned structures.

The governor asserts the city has more than $18 billion in accrued obligations with the city at its legal limit in tax rates. He noted a 63 percent drop in population from the city?s peak and 28 percent decline since 2000.

?The citizens of Detroit need and deserve a clear road out of the cycle of ever-decreasing services,? Snyder says. ?The city?s creditors, as well as its many dedicated public servants, deserve to know what promises the city can and will keep. The only way to do those things is to radically restructure the city and allow it to reinvent itself without the burden of impossible obligations.?

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