Commonwealth Failing Chester
The impact of COVID-19 is new and unexpected, but the City’s struggle to finish the year without running out of cash is not. In recent years the City has dealt with this problem by defaulting on its Tax Revenue Anticipation Note (TRAN) repayment (2016); falling behind on its payments for employee health insurance (2016); issuing new debt to cover current year obligations (2017); or pushing a portion of its current year obligations into the next year (2018 and 2019).2