Detroit has formally exited bankruptcy after 17 months. A recently approved debt adjustment plan kicked in last week, allowing the city to restructure finances, shed around $7 billion in debt and partially restore vital services. The plan was approved after city workers agreed to accept significant cuts to their pensions and benefits. Detroit’s emergency city manager, Kevyn Orr, welcomed the bankruptcy exit.

Kevyn Orr: “We are thankful that at this point the city will emerge later today, by the time I go to bed, from bankruptcy. We will exit. And we look forward, truly, to a better time for the city going forward.”

With Detroit no longer in bankruptcy, Orr returns formal authority to the mayor and the city council, whose power he has overrode for well over a year. Detroit’s finances will remain under strict state oversight.