Mammoth Lakes fears financial ruin after legal judgment
By Louis Sahagun, Los Angeles Times
January 9, 2011, 8:51 p.m.
Reporting from Mammoth Lakes, Calif. — An appellate court decision upholding a $30-million judgment against this High Sierra ski resort has left civic leaders scrambling to avoid financial catastrophe.
... Facing a judgment roughly twice the size of the town's annual operating budget, the Town Council last week retained a law firm that specializes in appellate litigation and also is developing settlement negotiation options, seeking legal advice on municipal bankruptcy and studying controversial proposals to raise taxes and make cuts in basic services to pay off the judgment, which bears a 7% annual interest rate.
http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-mammoth-bankruptcy-20110110-33,0,1256655.story