Are More California Munipical Bankruptcies On Their Way?

Soda Tax?
Recently, the cash-strapped city of San Bernadino decided to file for municipal bankrutpcy  following the footsteps of Stockton and Mammoth Lakes.  Also, the California city of Vallejo emerged from bankruptcy after filing chapter 9 for its own reasons stemming of course from financial troubles.
On the heels of these events, local southern California cities are looking for new ways to raise revenues and stay ahead of the bankruptcy curve.  Just recently, the city of El Monte, in Southern California proposed a sugar tax on sodas at 1 cent per ounce.  Only time will tell whether such a tax is a sound decision to assist in the generatation of revenues for the city.  Of course, the Soda companies and the lobbyists don’t like the proposed measure, which will be left to local voters to decide in November of this year.
While the measure has been met with both support and consternation depending on who you ask, the city of El Monte is taking steps to keep itself financially solvent and ahead of the curve, and for that, the city demonstrates that it is thinking ahead in this economic climate.
Keep an eye out these coming months to see if the wave of municipal chapter 9 filings are on there way, or if they are already here.