Article by Marcia Darnell
Municipal finance – September 2003 – Colorado Central Magazine
WHAT CAUSES A CITY to go belly-up, financially? The answers are murky and the opinions are loud and angry.
In the last month, Monte Vista, a city of 4,500 in the San Luis Valley, has lost its city manager, finance director, mayor, and one city council member. The city is awash in red ink, and took out a loan from a local bank using — really! — city hall as collateral.