Caitlin Devitt

Detroit suffered fresh blows to its credit standing, while Michigan faces its own legal setbacks tied to its efforts to impose oversight on fiscally hobbled municipalities.

CHICAGO — The Ohio Department of Transportation announced that it has formed a new division dedicated to ramping up the state's privatization efforts in an effort to lower costs and find new funding sources.

Hamilton County, Ohio, sold its public-safety hospital for $15 million in an effort to plug a chronic shortfall in the fund that runs the county's two main sports stadiums.

South Dakota’s new fiscal 2013 budget should be positive for local school districts, which are in line to see a 2.3% per-pupil increase as well as a one-time financial increase, according to Moody’s Investors Service.

Detroit Mayor Dave Bing announced Monday he had sent a draft of a consent decree to the City Council for review.

Moody's Investors Service hit Detroit with a two-notch downgrade Tuesday afternoon, while hours earlier an Ingham County circuit court judge issued a decision that could delay negotiations between Michigan and its biggest city over a proposed consent agreement.

CHICAGO — Ohio comes to market Tuesday with $431 million of general obligation bonds after winning a rating-outlook boost from Moody's Investors Service.

Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder indicated that the state would not step in to help Detroit cover its looming debt payments even if the city does not have enough money to meet those obligations.

Detroit would issue $100 million of new-money self-insurance bonds and push off $37 million of near-term debt service as part of Michigan's plan to pull the city back from the brink of insolvency.

CHICAGO — Ohio Gov. John Kasich Wednesday unveiled a $1.74 billion, two-year capital plan that would rely on $1.36 billion of general fund-backed bonds.

Detroit Mayor Dave Bing late Tuesday blasted Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder for a proposed consent decree that the mayor said is a thinly disguised state takeover of the distressed city.

CHICAGO — Local governments in Cook County, Ill., have raised property taxes nearly 50% during the last 10 years, mostly to keep pace with growing pension and employment benefits, and are moving along an "unsustainable" path that could eventually force some into bankruptcy, a Chicago-based public policy group warns in a new report.

Faculty at Ohio State University last week voted against the administration’s plan to privatize its parking system.

Ann Arbor next month plans to issue $120 million of revenue bonds to overhaul its wastewater system. The City Council approved the measure last week. The bonds will be issued through the Michigan Finance Authority as part of its water pollution control revolving fund program.

Standard & Poor’s last week downgraded the city of Allen Park deeper into junk-bond territory, dropping its long-term rating on the Michigan city’s unlimited-tax and limited-tax general obligation bonds to B from BB-plus.

Indiana lawmakers ended their brief 2012 session Friday after passing controversial labor legislation, an automatic taxpayer refund, and a phase-out of the estate tax, among other measures.

Michigan Gov. Rick Sndyer will present Detroit officials Tuesday morning with an informal proposed consent agreement that would allow the nearly broke city to avoid a full state takeover.

CHICAGO — A lot has changed in the municipal debt world in the 20 years since Clayton Gillette and the late Robert Amdursky first wrote "Municipal Debt Finance Law: Theory and Practice."

In his third annual state of the city address, Detroit Mayor Dave Bing said he and Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder agree that an emergency manager is not the best option for the nearly broke city, but called on the state to offer "tangible" support to help stabilize the city's cash position.

CHICAGO — The "national explosion of consolidation" across the health care sector differs in key ways from past trends, as providers face new, complex problems and new players have entered the game to craft merger models that include risks and benefits, Moody's Investors Service said in a report released Thursday.