DETROIT — An emergency manager assigned to lead this city back from the brink of financial ruin has taken his first detailed look at Detroit’s woes, and the picture of debt and disarray he paints may be bleaker even than earlier grim portrayals.

In a report to be presented to Michigan’s treasurer on Monday, Kevyn D. Orr, the emergency manager appointed in March to take over operations here, described long-term obligations of at least $15 billion, unsustainable cash flow shortages and miserably low credit ratings that make it difficult to borrow.

And in the face of those fiscal troubles, Mr. Orr, a longtime bankruptcy lawyer, portrayed city operations in Detroit as in need of significant repair, including overhauls of the city’s Police Department and Fire Department, among others.

“No one should underestimate the severity of the financial crisis,” Mr. Orr said in a statement issued by his office on Sunday. “The path Detroit has followed for more than 40 years is unsustainable and only a complete restructuring of the city’s finances and operations will allow Detroit to regain its footing and return to a path of prosperity.”

The account from Mr. Orr, 45 days into his time in Detroit, is required under a Michigan law that dictates the state’s oversight of cities that appear headed for financial collapse. But Mr. Orr’s findings, painfully detailing the city’s problems over more than 40 pages, also seem likely to become a new focal point for debate for some in Detroit who have questioned the seriousness of the city’s troubles and the need for state intervention at a level rarely seen for a city of its size.

“It’s not as bad as what they’re trying to make it out to be,” Edward L. McNeil, a local official for the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, said on Sunday. Mr. McNeil had not viewed a copy of Mr. Orr’s report, which was not made public until late Sunday, but he said he had grown accustomed to overly negative assessments of Detroit by the state and its representatives.

“All of this was a cooked deal for them to take control of the city and take the assets,” Mr. McNeil said. “This has been a sham.”

In his filing for the state, Mr. Orr made clear that the city must fundamentally restructure its financial liabilities. Noting that retirees from the city now outnumber current workers by more than two to one, Mr. Orr said pension and health care costs must be addressed.

Mr. Orr found that the Detroit Police Department, led by five chiefs over the last five years, suffers from “extremely low” efficiency, effectiveness and morale, and said its equipment and technology were out of date. The Fire Department has 52 facilities across the city, but as many as 12 may be essentially out of service on any given day, Mr. Orr said, because of “staffing and equipment constraints.” Meanwhile, he said, at least 60,000 parcels of land across the city are vacant, as are 78,000 buildings.

“The city’s operations have become dysfunctional and wasteful after years of budgetary restrictions, mismanagement, crippling operational practices and, in some cases, indifference or corruption,” he wrote. “Outdated policies, work practices, procedures and systems must be improved consistent with best practices of 21st-century government.”

Click here for the full story.