Several of Detroit's departments were not able to perform some of the most basic functions when one financial crisis-management firm began working with the city last year.
"Simple things such as getting bills out on time to the right addresses were significant deficiencies," Charles Moore of Conway MacKenzie Inc. said during the city's federal bankruptcy court trial. "Many of the departments couldn't perform some of the most basic functions."
Operations at the city's property tax division and its public lighting department were struggling to properly bill customers last year.
The city owns a power plant that supplies electricity to almost 900 public buildings including federal, state and county agencies.
Detroit also owns parking garages that are in disrepair and cannot be fully used because some areas are blocked off, said Moore, managing partner at the Birmingham, Mich.-based restructuring firm.
Moore was the second witness to testify in a trial that will determine Detroit's eligibility for Chapter 9 bankruptcy.
Detroit became the largest city in U.S. history to file for bankruptcy protection July 18 with more than $18 billion in debt.
http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2013/10/24/detroit-bankruptcy-trial/3182231/