A depleted police force, aging infrastructure, and a $7.3 million deficit - it's a picture of the financial emergency Michael Brown is charged with turning around in the City of Flint.

So far, he's axed several staff positions and cut the mayor and council's pay - before restoring part of it.

The next step is presenting an operating plan to the state treasury that outlines how to turn the tide of messy finances.

"There's a lot of pain involved in this, because the situation is very difficult."  Brown consulted his 5-member advisory committee and got input from 5 other citizen committees.

"I felt really good about that because I think the openness and transparency and community and citizen engagement are all critical issues."

Brown says that will be key to close the gap between the city's revenues and expenses.

"We've had to lay off a lot of police officers and just the ratio of police officers to citizens is not where we want it to be."

All the more reason to get finances in order fast.  One solution could be, collaborating with other communities to deliver essential public services - like sewer & water.

It won't be an easy road, and brown says he's not going to waste any time stalling tough decisions.