A Closer Look at Detroit's Debt Crisis

City leaders struggle to map out Detroit's future.

An Uncertain Future - Detroit is in the midst of a wholesale financial shakeup, with the city’s new emergency financial manager, Kevyn Orr, considering strategies for reducing the city's mountainous debt. He recently told creditors to accept pennies on the dollar while offering other ideas for Detroit’s finances. Keep reading for a look at some of the major highlights and analysis from Orr's report. — Jonathan P. Hicks and Britt Middleton   (Photo: Bill Pugliano/Getty Images)

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An Uncertain Future - Detroit is in the midst of a wholesale financial shakeup, with the city’s new emergency financial manager, Kevyn Orr, considering strategies for reducing the city's mountainous debt. He recently told creditors to accept pennies on the dollar while offering other ideas for Detroit’s finances. Keep reading for a look at some of the major highlights and analysis from Orr's report. — Jonathan P. Hicks and Britt Middleton (Photo: Bill Pugliano/Getty Images)

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A Historic Default - With the city of Detroit now missing a $39.7 million payment on debt issued to fund pensions, Detroit becomes the most populous American city to default since Cleveland in 1978.  (Photo: Spencer Platt/Getty Images)

Photo By Spencer Platt/Getty Images

A Lopsided Offer - Unsecured creditors may receive less than 10 cents on the dollar under a deal offered to more than 100 creditors and union officials by Kevyn Orr, the city’s emergency financial manager. (Photo by Bill Pugliano/Getty Images)

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A Lopsided Offer - Unsecured creditors may receive less than 10 cents on the dollar under a deal offered to more than 100 creditors and union officials by Kevyn Orr, the city’s emergency financial manager. (Photo by Bill Pugliano/Getty Images)

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A Powerful Executive - Kevyn Orr has nearly unlimited power to restructure the city’s fiscal affairs. A 2012 state law gives Orr authority to cut spending and services and impose new terms for employee contracts, including wages and benefits. He also can sell assets. (Photo by Bill Pugliano/Getty Images)

Housing Crisis  - Detroit's revenue fell as its population declined and home values dropped. Once among the top 10 American cities by population, it has lost more than a quarter of its residents since 2000, to about 701,000 last year. That's fewer than half its post-war peak of 1.8 million in 1950.(Photo by Scott Olson/Getty Images)

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Housing Crisis - Detroit's revenue fell as its population declined and home values dropped. Once among the top 10 American cities by population, it has lost more than a quarter of its residents since 2000, to about 701,000 last year. That's fewer than half its post-war peak of 1.8 million in 1950.(Photo by Scott Olson/Getty Images)

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Income Tax Decline - The income tax receipts in the city of Detroit have dropped 40 percent since fiscal 2000 to $233 million in 2011, while the jobless rate has tripled and property values declined. (Photo by Chris Hondros/Getty Images)

Revenues and Tax Shortfall - From 2008 until 2012, Detroit's expenditures have exceeded revenues by an average of $100 million annually, the report states. (Photo: Jarrad Henderson/Detroit Free Press/ MCT /LANDOV)

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Revenues and Tax Shortfall - From 2008 until 2012, Detroit's expenditures have exceeded revenues by an average of $100 million annually, the report states. (Photo: Jarrad Henderson/Detroit Free Press/ MCT /LANDOV)

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Plummeting Credit Rating - Over the past decade, Detroit's credit rating has steadily declined to the lowest among all major U.S. cities in the nation, according to Orr's report. Currently, it stands at "CCC" (Fitch Ratings, June 30, 2013), well below investment grade and bounds away from its "A" rating from the same agency in 2003. (Photo by Bill Pugliano/Getty Images)

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Belle Island Subject of Deal with the State - While talk of the city selling off its assets, including priceless artwork from one of its museums, made headlines recently, Orr's report provided only a limited scope into its future plans. One of the biggest moves is a pending agreement to lease Belle Island Park, a 982-acre park on an island in the Detroit River, to the state of Michigan, saving Detroit an estimated $6 million a year in maintenance costs. (Photo: The Plain Dealer /Landov)

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Belle Island Subject of Deal with the State - While talk of the city selling off its assets, including priceless artwork from one of its museums, made headlines recently, Orr's report provided only a limited scope into its future plans. One of the biggest moves is a pending agreement to lease Belle Island Park, a 982-acre park on an island in the Detroit River, to the state of Michigan, saving Detroit an estimated $6 million a year in maintenance costs. (Photo: The Plain Dealer /Landov)

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Deferral of Pensions - It appears former emergency responders will take the largest hit during Detroit's restricting. By the end of the year, the city of Detroit expects to have deferred more than $100 million in retirement pensions for police and fire personnel; as of May 2013, the city deferred approximately $54 million and stands to defer approximately $50 million on June 30, according to the report. (Photo: Bill Pugliano/Getty Images)

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Nervous Unions - Active and retired city workers will face "significant cuts in accrued, vested pension amounts," according to the report by Detroit’s emergency financial manager. The report also said that the general retirement system and police and fire system are underfunded by about $3.5 billion. (Photo: Friso Gentsch/Volkswagen/DPA/LANDOV)

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Nervous Unions - Active and retired city workers will face "significant cuts in accrued, vested pension amounts," according to the report by Detroit’s emergency financial manager. The report also said that the general retirement system and police and fire system are underfunded by about $3.5 billion. (Photo: Friso Gentsch/Volkswagen/DPA/LANDOV)

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Health Care Woes - Health care for the city's former employees will be also be affected. According to the report, current retirees will receive modified medical benefits plans under the exchanges created Jan. 1, 2014 under President Obama's Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act or through Medicare with city supplements. (Photo: Bruce Ayres/Getty Images)