Caitlin Devitt

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.

CHICAGO — Former public finance banker and credit analyst Ivan Samstein has joined Cook County, Ill.'s finance team as deputy chief financial officer.

CHICAGO — Lawmakers in South Dakota, typically one of the first states to complete its budget, last Friday approved a $4 billion, all-funds fiscal 2013 budget that reflects the state's strengthening fiscal position.

A measure that would ask residents of Ohio to authorize $1.3 billion of bonds to finance clean energy efforts advanced in late February when the state attorney general approved the measure.

The Michigan treasurer announced Friday that Detroit Public Schools will take over management of the struggling Highland Park School District.

Moody’s Investors Service has downgraded to Baa1 from A3 its rating on the Brighton Area School District and maintained its negative outlook, warning that the Michigan district is facing financial pressures and a significant general fund deficit.

Indiana collected less revenue than expected last month, though revenues remained up for the first eight months of the fiscal year, officials said this week.

CHICAGO — An effort afoot to suspend and overturn Michigan's emergency manager law could have negative consequences for the fiscally stressed local governments the law aims to help, Moody's Investors Service warns.

CHICAGO — The governors of Kentucky and Indiana Monday released the first comprehensive financing plan for a massive $2.6 billion bridges project that will rely heavily on tolls.

CHICAGO — Junk-rated Detroit Public Schools will bring $252 million of refunding bonds to market this week that feature enhanced double-A ratings based on Michigan's full-faith-and-credit pledge to repay the debt.

CHICAGO — A team of Michigan officials that is reviewing Inkster's finances voted Wednesday to accept a consent decree with local officials, a move that would allow the troubled Detroit suburb to avoid a full state takeover.