Orange County Creditors
Overwhelmingly Approve Adjustment Plan
Santa Ana, California --
The County of Orange announced it has received overwhelming
approval of the County's Plan of Adjustment from County
Creditors. The final tabulation of approximately 7,198
ballots from more than 15,000 ballots mailed to creditors
indicate that most classes of creditors support the county's
plan in the range of 97%-100%. The tabulation of ballots
was filed with U.S. Bankruptcy Court today at 1:50 p.m.
The final component of the County's recovery effort will
be the issuance of approximately $800 million of Recovery
Certificates of Participation (Recovery COP's) which will
provide full payment of the County's Chapter 9 related
claims including public debt which matures on June 30,
1996, vendor claims, labor claims and administrative claims.
Early indications point to a successful issuance, in part
due to the commitment from MBIA to insure the Recovery
COP's.
Federal Bankruptcy Court is expected to confirm the Plan
of Adjustment at a hearing scheduled for tomorrow, May
15, 1996. Bruce Bennett, the County's lead Bankruptcy
Attorney commented, "The 18 month, light-speed of
the County's emergency from Chapter 9 is nothing short
of miraculous and made possible by a recovery team that
solved a wide range of problems." He continued, "As
a normal part of the process, there may be a small number
of appeals, but we certainly do not expect anything that
will slow the rock-solid record of recovery for the County."
Jan Mittermeier, Orange County Chief Executive Officer
commented, "We appreciate the confidence and support
of the pool participants and creditors; including cities,
special districts, vendors, and employees." She continued,
"Their overwhelming acceptance demonstrates their
faith in the County's ability to meet its obligations
and continue its services to the residents of Orange County."
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