Before the water crisis in Flint brought about by cost-cutting and poor emergency management, the troubled city had been on an undeniable upward swing.
When General Motors and Chrysler faced bankruptcy in 2008 and 2009, the companies received an emergency bailout from the federal government that kept the U.S. auto industry afloat. But the residents of Flint, the city that “GM built,” received no such financial support, points out Anna Clark. So they decided to take matters into their own hands.
But here’s the real crime: Since 2001, the state has diverted $6.2 billion in planned revenue sharing from cities to balance its own budget. If the state legislature hadn’t disinvested, Flint would have had more than $55 million in additional revenue over the last fifteen years.
