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Lemont, Illinois is putting its credit rating on the line as it plans a $20 million bond sale to fund a 26-acre sports complex that the village says will attract youth travel sports leagues. “Read more>>”
Texas’s school-finance system is unconstitutional because it falls short of the state’s obligation to provide an adequate and equitable public education to all children, a judge ruled. “Read more>>”
Two financial deals that kept the National Football League playing in the Superdome, allowing New Orleans to host a 10th Super Bowl, were expensive for taxpayers and enriched Saints owner Tom Benson, said former Louisiana Governor Kathleen Blanco. Click here to continue reading
Governor Jerry Brown declared an end to California’s chronic fiscal crisis, projecting the first surplus in a decade thanks to spending cuts and $6 billion in new taxes approved by voters. Brown’s budget predicts an $851 million surplus for the fiscal year that begins July 1. The blueprint, including a $1 billion reserve, increases general-fund spending by [...]
A firefighter in Allentown, Pennsylvania, which plans to lease its water system to meet retirement costs, left last year with an annual pension of $99,289, more than double what state law says was due. Most municipalities in the state, home to a quarter of U.S. public pension plans, show similar disregard for local statutes, said James [...]
Municipal investors looking for a getaway from the lowest yields in a generation are favoring Guam and the U.S. Virgin Islands over Puerto Rico as their destination of choice. Issuers from Guam, the U.S. island about 4,000 miles west of Hawaii, have gained 11 percent this year, more than any state or territory, Barclays Plc data show. The Virgin Islands have earned 10 percent. [...]
After the biggest rally in U.S. local bonds in more than a decade, investors should prepare for the first year of losses since 2008, analysts at Morgan Stanley and Municipal Market Advisors predict. To continue reading click here
With the passage of the first voterbacked statewide tax increase in eight years, Californians sent a clear signal they are tired of failing schools, gridlocked roads and the deterioration over the past decade of the state’s reputation as a standard bearer. They approved Proposition 30, 54 percent to 46 percent, taking a step away from the legacy of Proposition 13, the 1978 initiative [...]
New Jersey Governor Chris Christie and lawmakers are pushing for the state’s first general-obligation bond issue for higher education in almost 25 years in a bid to reduce the nation’s biggest exodus of college students. Voters in the 11th-most populous state, devastated by Hurricane Sandy this week, are set to decide Nov. 6 on a $750 million bond for college construction. [...]
The National Football League’s New York Giants sit atop their division. Their New Jersey hometown is in the fiscal cellar. East Rutherford, a suburb of 8,900 people about 13 miles (21 kilometers) west of Manhattan, is struggling to assemble the state’s tardiest budget as it battles the team over a tax bill. Investor patience is wearing thin with the borough, which [...]
