By a majority vote, the Commission authorized the Chapter 9 filing, and Commission president, David Carrington, comments, "The County has negotiated extensively and in good faith with its creditors and their representatives about restructuring the County's debts out-of-court.

Despite the County's best efforts, those negotiations have not produced a deal that fairly treats the County and its citizens, and there is no reason to believe that further out-of-court negotiations will lead to a fair, acceptable result." According to documents filed with the Court, "the County's operating cash reserves are dangerously low in the absence of legislative authorization of additional revenue sources." In addition, "the County has passed a balanced Budget for fiscal year 2012 that not only extends the spending cuts implemented during fiscal year 2011 but also reduces the operating budgets of essentially all departments and anticipates the replacement of projected revenue shortfalls with the County's cash reserves."

The County states that this filing follows a series of significant and unprecedented financial setbacks dating back to 2008. Most recently, the sewer system receiver "demanded that the County pay him $75 million from the County's General Fund, which would have impaired the County's ability to provide essential services to its citizens."