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The Dripby Brew Editors6:00 pmFeb 8, 20130

Reutter, on radio, breaks down “bankruptcy” talk

Baltimore headed for “financial ruin” and “bankruptcy?”

Those dire words and images popped up in published reports this week following the city’s release of a consultant’s report describing Baltimore’s 10-year financial forecast.

In the wake of Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake’s presentation of the document to reporters, headline writers picked up on the “poor-us” plot-line.

(This despite the fact that the city has a $90 million “budget stabilization reserve” and a budget shortfall smaller than many of the recent years’ shortfalls.)

So why the drama? Today The Brew’s Mark Reutter explained what was really going on during a spot on Midday with Dan Rodricks on WYPR 88.1 FM. (For more detail, read about it in Reutter’s report in The Brew.) The Reutter segment on Rodricks’ show starts at about 33:35.

During the segment, Rodricks also read an e-mail from the mayor’s spokesman Ryan O’Doherty with a link to a story – “Baltimore’s 10-year forecast sets precedent” – in bondbuyer.com.

“FYI, all investors who buy municipal bonds saw this front page Bond Buyer story today,” O’Doherty warned. “While it is not an immediate crisis, it would be foolish to ignore the problem.”

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