DETROIT, March 9 (UPI) -- Detroit Mayor Dave Bing has asked the state of Michigan for a loan of $125 million to $150 million to help the financially struggling city.
The request, confirmed Thursday night by Bing's office, came after he pledged in his State of the City speech Wednesday to keep an emergency manager out of the city and called on the state to provide "tangible support," including financial and operational support, The Detroit News reported.
Naomi Patton, a Bing spokeswoman, said the loan request, first reported Thursday by The Wall Street Journal, had not been formally made to Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder.
When the News asked Snyder this week about the possibility of a state-financed bailout of Detroit, he said, "That doesn't make a whole lot of sense if there's not a solution" to the city's long-term financial troubles.
"This is to have a sustainable answer," Snyder said. "This is not to put off a situation until it becomes a problem again."
Bing told the Journal the governor "is pretty coy."
"If Detroit fails or doesn't make it or doesn't come back as soon as we would like it to, it's going to cost the state money anyway," Bing said. "It's you pay me now or pay me later."
Snyder said Thursday he would like a consent agreement on restructuring the city's finances completed this month.
