DETROIT — The mayor of Detroit says the city’s deficit is approaching $300 million and he has ordered all departments to reduce their budgets by 10 percent.

Mayor Ken Cockrel Jr. said in a statement Friday that new problems are being discovered daily regarding the finances and financial reporting practices of the administration of his predecessor, Kwame Kilpatrick.

He says the discoveries confirm that Kilpatrick “misled Detroiters and misled City Council.”

Cockrel was promoted to mayor from the City Council when Kilpatrick resigned in a scandal in September.

Detroit has a budget this year of $3.1 billion and employs about 15,000 people.

Cockrel said he will release a deficit elimination plan in January.

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