In a move that was alluded to and somewhat anticipated, Chester Receiver Michael Doweary followed through and officially filed for Chapter 9 Bankruptcy just one day following massive protest and a meeting with the Receiver’s team.
Doweary, the state-appointed Receiver for Chester, requested and received authorization from the Secretary of The Community and Economic Development in May of 2022. In a statement at that time, Vijay Kapor, Chief of Staff for Doweary, stated that he had not decided to file for bankruptcy. Doweary decided to execute that filing on Thursday, November 10th, citing police and fire pensions and retiree health care costs, lack of tax revenue, and other mitigating factors.
Chester’s history of financial hardship dates back to 1995, under the stewardship of the Bohannan-Sheppard administration, and has been an ongoing problem inherited by subsequent administrations. In 1995, Chester was placed in financial receivership.
The financial issues were exacerbated during Covid, a time when all deficiences were magnified, and the ongoing financial issues of Chester impacted its ability to navigate and provide services when they were needed most. The state was called for assistance and Governor Wolfe placed Chester under receivership in 2020 because of its fiscal emergency.
Chester spent over 25% of 2021’s general fund budget on pension and retiree health care costs.
Prior to the scheduled meeting on Wednesday, November 9th, a rally took place in the square across from City Hall, which spilled onto the Avenue of the States. Many carried picket signs with slogans reading “Hands Off Our Health Care,” “Save Retiree Benefits,” and “Gave Our All, Now They Want It All.”
Alan Davis, a retired police officer Injured On The Job said, “I ended up with two bullets. One blew my arm apart. It would make me homeless and uninsured. Losing my benefits would be catastrophic.”
Following the rally, current and former Chester city employees packed into the community room at City Hall to listen to Receiver Doweary and his Chief of Staff Vijay Kapoor outline the crisis at hand. The reduction of the City’s pension and debt service costs, the elimination of retiree health care, and cutting the City’s cost for active employees’ medical benefits are issues on the chopping block.
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