Repo man seizes city streetlights

Updated Oct. 12, 2:07 p.m. ET

Things are so bad for the city of Highland Park, Mich., that the power company has removed 1,400 streetlight poles.

The action is "part of a settlement that lets the city avoid paying $4 million in unpaid bills going back several years," CBS Detroit reports.

The overall plan will cut the city's $62,000 monthly bill to $15,000, The Detroit News says.

This small city -- where the motto is "Return to Excellence" -- knows hard times. "50% enrollment drop has Highland Park schools in crisis," the city said on its Twitter feed.

But municipal money shortages are increasingly common these days -- with each struggling city facing its own set of financial challenges. Some examples:

• Vallejo, Calif., was likely the first municipal bankruptcy in recent years. It filed in 2008 at an eventual cost of $9.5 million in legal fees and still has to pay many of its debts.
• The city of Central Falls, R.I., filed for bankruptcy in August. "Central Falls got into trouble, above all, by promising its police and firefighters generous retirement benefits without setting aside enough money to pay for them," The New York Times says. Post continues after video.

• The county that's home to Birmingham has averted bankruptcy -- so far. "Jefferson County, Alabama, commissioners approved a provisional agreement with holders of $3.14 billion of sewer debt to avert what would have been the largest municipal bankruptcy in U.S. history," Bloomberg reported last month.
• The town of Gurley, Ala., is preparing for possible bankruptcy as it faces a nearly $5 million judgment after losing a court case, reports The Huntsville Times.
• Harrisburg, the state capital of Pennsylvania, was declared "financially distressed" when it couldn't pay $310 million in debt accumulated by an incinerator project. The city has now reportedly filed for bankruptcy protection.

A Business Insider story from late last year explained some of the common causes of municipal stress, which has led to widespread cutbacks in city services:

First, the expiration of Build America Bonds will make it harder for cities to raise funds. Second, city revenues are crashing and keep getting worse. Property taxes haven't reflected the total damage from the housing crash. High joblessness is cutting into city revenues, while increasing costs for services.

What's to become of Highland Park, a town of about 14,000 that's surrounded by Detroit, which has more than its share of economic woes?

It's not a total blackout at night. DTE Energy is installing 200 poles at intersections with higher-efficiency lights, which will leave the city with 500 streetlights total. Otherwise, streets will be dark unless residents keep their outside lights on. That might be difficult in a town with a median household income of about $18,000 a year. 

Mayor Hubert Yopp says most burglaries in town occur during the day, but residents and business owners are leery. Three schools were burglarized at night right after the lights went out, a school official told The Detroit News.

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