A north-central Indiana city has started the new year with virtually no money on hand, and the mayor blames the plight on a "disaster" of rising health care costs that depleted its finances.
Marion began 2012 with $2.3 million in cash reserves but ended it with just $44,000, leaving it unable to repay a $1 million short-term loan from Marion Municipal Utilities.
Controller Cindy Wright tells the Chronicle-Tribune the city is working to repay that loan as soon as possible.
Mayor Wayne Seybold says Marion's fiscal woes came mostly from health insurance, not administration overspending. The health insurance reserve fund that supports city workers' coverage went from a $2 million deficit to a $5 million deficit last year.
Seybold says Marion is poised to rebuild its finances during 2013.
