Caitlin Devitt

CHICAGO — The emergency manager of Pontiac, Mich., said his plan to raise new money for the cash-strapped Detroit suburb relies on a court-ordered property tax increase.

Moody's Investors Service this week affirmed its Aaa rating on Livingston County's $78.2 million of outstanding general obligation debt.

Gov. Rick Snyder last week asked the Michigan Supreme Court to rule on a lawsuit that targets the state's controversial emergency-management law.

Cook County's real estate valuation fell nearly 11%, or $66 billion, in 2009 from a year earlier, a new analysis says.

CHICAGO — A committee of Indiana legislators will hold the first in a series of hearings today to review the state's infrastructure needs — estimated at $5.4 billion with an $800 million annual shortfall going forward — as proceeds from the long-term lease of the Indiana Toll Road are set to run out by 2015.

CHICAGO - The emergency manager of struggling Pontiac, Mich., last week unveiled a package of tax increases and spending cuts that he said is the only option the city has to avoid going broke by next spring or sooner.

CHICAGO - A trio of nonprofit hospitals in the Chicago area, including the prominent Northwestern Memorial's Prentice Women's Hospital, are expected to appeal the Illinois Department of Revenue's decision earlier this week to deny them their property-tax exemptions for failing to provide sufficient charity care.

CHICAGO - Indianapolis Mayor Greg Ballard unveiled what he called the triple-A rated city's tightest budget in years, offsetting falling revenue by dipping into funds from the city's lucrative downtown tax increment finance district.

The Detroit Charter Revision Commission is working to meet an Aug. 30 deadline to place a revised charter on the fall ballot.

The AARP joined with two other senior-citizen groups to file a friend of the court brief to the Michigan Supreme Court last week, arguing that the state’s new law taxing retirement income is unconstitutional.

More than 80 people, including members of Michigan's Senate Economic Development Committee, embarked Monday on a fact-finding tour of proposed sites for a controversial plan to build a publicly funded bridge over the Detroit River.

Fitch Ratings last week affirmed its AAA rating and stable outlook on Indianapolis.

CHICAGO - Nonprofit health care issuers already bracing for steep government reimbursement cuts from the new federal health care law now face a new round of cuts tied to the debt-ceiling deal.

CHICAGO - Detroit hopes to come to market in early September with up to $100 million of federal capital grant-backed bonds to finance part of a light-rail system along the city's main thoroughfare.

CHICAGO - Ohio is looking for advisors to help it explore privatization options for the Ohio Turnpike.

CHICAGO - Citizens Energy Group, a nonprofit utility, will enter the market next week with up to $1 billion of new-money and refunding tax-exempt bonds to finance the purchase of Indianapolis' water and sewer systems.

Fitch Ratings last week downgraded Toledo’s sewer bonds to A-plus from AA-minus due in part to a weakening of the system’s debt service coverage levels over the past two years.

Voters rejected 17 of 23 school levy requests in special local elections held last week across Ohio.

Detroit Mayor Dave Bing announced last week that the city has reached a voluntary settlement with a union, resulting in a number of reforms.

Three unions that represent employees in the Detroit Public Schools system filed a federal lawsuit over a 10% pay cut and new requirement that employees pay 20% of their health care costs.