One Year Later: Bankrupt Stockton Making Strides, But Recovery Time Unknown
STOCKTON (CBS13) — When the city of Stockton filed for bankruptcy a year ago on Friday, it was yet another black eye to its image. Since then, progress has been made, but there is still a long road to recovery.
The city of Stockton has spent $7 million so far in its bankruptcy battle.
The largest city in the nation to file for Chapter 9 protection is making some notable changes to clean up its financial mess. Most agree more must be done to make sure the city doesn't make the same money-management mistakes.
Bob Gutierrez is with Stockton Forward, a group of stakeholders on a mission to help Stockton bounce back after bankruptcy.
"The transparency factor is huge, I think, from the citizen standpoint, is what people want to see. They want to know their city is working together and no one is doing anything behind closed doors," he said.
Earlier this week, the city announced a proposal to raise the sales tax by three-quarters of a percent. The city says that move would generate almost $30 million a year—or enough cash to fund at least 100 new police officers and pay for other portions of the city's multifaceted crime-fighting plan.
The city has seen 12 murders so far this year, down from the record of 71 from 2012.
Some neighbors hope additional officers hit the street soon.
"We need to lock down the city and start cleaning it up, and that's the way it is," said Nash Basconcillo.
But the tax initiative still needs to be presented at a public hearing next month before it would land on November's ballot for voters to decide.
It's not clear how long the city will take to emerge from bankruptcy. The city is expected to present a federal judge with a bankruptcy exit plan in October.
