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"Perhaps the most crystallizing piece from the summary is the comparison that equated the city of Warwick to a family with a household income of $75,000 a year. That family would have about $15,000 in secured debt, which could be accurately accounted for. However, it would also have about $240,000 in unsecured debt akin to a high-interest credit card, with no certainty about how that debt can be realistically paid off".

"These numbers reflect the city’s ballooning liability for healthcare and retirement benefits (to date, an approximately $840 million obligation), which truly sits at the center of this whole financial debate. Were the city to adequately fund just its healthcare benefits for retirees as they are currently written up, it would take $34 million a year – an impossible figure. As anyone who has experienced a high level of debt before, making minimum monthly payments on such a sum to get by – or to “pay as you go” as the report calls it – will only exacerbate the situation, as accrued interest in the long run will outpace the contributions, resulting in an ever-increasing principle".