Creditors Delay Answer in Jeffco Debt Crisis

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (AP) - Wall Street is taking more time to
respond to a plan to restructure Jefferson County’s $3.2 billion
sewer debt and avoid the largest municipal bankruptcy in U.S.
history.

    Creditors were supposed to respond this week to a new financial
plan offered by the county. But a spokesman for Gov. Bob Riley,
Jeff Emerson, said Friday there had been a delay, and no answer was
expected before Monday.
    The county offered the plan to creditors during a meeting
overseen by Riley last week. It includes sewer rate hikes capped at
2.85 percent annually and no tax increases.

    Jefferson County leaders brought the governor into the talks
after they were unable to resolve the crisis. The county’s
financial problems stem from risky financing agreements and soaring
interest payments brought on by troubled credit markets.