In re CF&I Fabricators of Utah, Inc.In re The Colorado & Wyoming Ry. Co.
UNPUBLISHED
Chapter 11 trustee filed an unopposed motion for an order allowing payment of various unsecured prepetition claims prior to plan confirmation, relying on 11 U.S.C. § 1122(b). The court held that, although § 1122(b) allows creation of an administrative convenience class of claims, it does not authorize payment of those claims prior to confirmation of a plan. The court further rejected trustee's assertion that the small service creditors' claims should be paid pursuant to the Necessity of Payment Rule, finding no evidence that payment of the creditors prior to implementation of a plan was necessary to debtor's rehabilitation. Finally, the court rejected trustee's argument that the proposed payments could be made under 11 U.S.C. § 1171(b), which incorporates the Six Months Rule applicable to railroad reorganization and allows certain prepetition debts to be paid from postpetition operating income. The court concluded that the claims at issue did not satisfy the rule's criteria, both because the creditors that trustee sought to pay had not relied on anything other than debtor's general credit for repayment, and because tax claims are not debts for labor, equipment, supplies, or improvements.