It would be interesting to learn how judges manage their clerks and other support staff to facilitate their preparation for such a hearing.

I completely agree.

I would add that I believe, but may be wrong, that the City would be obligated to pay off the bonds, not the ClimateSmart loan customers. The City would hope to offset the cash outlay to bondholders by the cash inflow from payments by the CS loan customers. The City would buffer bondholders from default by the CS loan customers, allowing the interest rate on the bonds to more closely track the market.

The financial exposure to the City's taxpayers, in addition to what bwg explained above, occurs if the City underestimates the default rate of the CS loan customers. If the default rate is higher than expected, then the City would have to make up the reduced cash inflow from other sources (e.g. reduced spending, increased taxes).

So, how good is the City at predicting default rates? Are they any better than the current governmental examples (Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, FDIC, Barney Frank, etc)?

No thanks. The City should not attempt to run a bank.