Retirees Pitted Against Water Unit in City’s Two-Year Bankruptcy

As Chester, Pa., passes the two-year anniversary of its bankruptcy filing, its financial turnaround remains scrambled by a web of competing interests and a legal battle over assets it hopes to sell.

State-appointed receiver Michael Doweary is tasked with determining how to resolve the city’s largest debt—$300 million in benefits owed to its retired workers—while fulfilling his mandate to the city’s residents. While Chester doesn’t carry the billions of dollars in debt that defined higher-profile municipal bankruptcies, such as Detroit and Jefferson County, Ala., the legal and economic questions it faces are no less consequential for its residents, advisers, and ...