Financial woes swamp Alabama county

BIRMINGHAM, Ala., Aug. 1 (UPI) -- Alabama's most populated county is so poor it can no longer afford to bury indigent patients who die at public nursing homes, authorities said.

Public nursing homes are feeling the pain in Jefferson County along with the juvenile detention center in Birmingham, which plans to lay off its entire cafeteria staff, The New York Times reported Saturday.

"Outside of the city of Detroit, it's fair to say we haven't seen any place in America with the severity of problems that they're experiencing in Jefferson County, said Robert Kurrter, a managing director with Moody's Investors Service. Moody's rates Jefferson County's credit lower than any other municipality in the nation.

Some blame the recession, while others blame a sewer-bond deal that used swaps concocted by investment bankers, the Times reported. The mess was compounded in January when a court ruled illegal a tax the county relied on for more than 25 percent of its general fund, the Times reported.

"The chips are gone and the poker game's gone. You can't play poker without any chips," store owner Mansoor Butt said in summing up the county's problems.