Caitlin Devitt

Detroit will save $61 million next year under an agreement it reached with the city’s two retirement systems to spread out a five-year pension fund payment over seven years.

CHICAGO — The Lansing Board of Water and Light will price $250 million of new-money utility system revenue bonds Tuesday to finance construction of a new natural gas plant in Michigan.

CHICAGO — Indiana’s Purdue University, one of the nation’s few higher education institutions with a triple-A rating, will price $45 million of refunding student facility system revenue bonds Tuesday.

CHICAGO — The Board of Trustees of Western Michigan University, one of the state’s largest colleges, is expected to enter the market by the end of May with $68 million of mostly new-money debt.

CHICAGO — Riding high on its record oil boom, North Dakota will consider a measure that would repeal property taxes and require the state to replace the local revenue.

CHICAGO — As Michigan lawmakers work to finish a fiscal 2012 budget by the end of May, fiscal officials said Monday the long-struggling state is poised to enjoy its strongest revenue growth in a decade.

The company building casinos in Cleveland and Cincinnati halted construction last week amid an ongoing debate by Ohio Gov. John Kasich and lawmakers about a final gambling tax rate.

Nebraska lawmakers last week passed a bill that eliminates an occupation tax imposed by Lincoln to help boost its budget.

Moody’s Investors Service last week downgraded to A2 from Aa3 the underlying rating on the Harper Woods City School District, and assigned a negative outlook.

A Detroit-based group opposed to Michigan’s controversial new emergency financial-management law filed petition language with the state Board of Canvassers for a referendum on it.

CHICAGO — The new federal health care law’s emphasis on high-quality, low-cost medical care could have widespread credit implications for the sector, Moody’s Investors Service said in a report last week.

CHICAGO — Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder’s choice for emergency manager of Detroit ­Public Schools will enjoy broader powers than his predecessor, but faces a structural deficit that has increased more than 60% in two years.

CHICAGO — The Gary school district is warning that Indiana’s refusal to allow the district to levy a new tax for debt service payments will lead to teacher layoffs and other classroom cuts.

Cincinnati’s long-planned proposal to build a streetcar line advanced last week despite opposition from Ohio’s new Republican governor, John Kasich. Mayor Mark Mallory announced last week that the city would begin work on the $95 million, four-mile first segment of the line.

Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder is now expected to wait until the Legislature ­approves a fiscal 2012 budget before introducing a draft measure to advance a controversial plan to build a publicly funded bridge over the busy trade route spanning the Detroit River.

State revenues continue to come in under projections but are above collections for the same period last year, according to Indiana fiscal officials.

CHICAGO — The Nebraska Public Power District Monday will price $64 million of general revenue bonds to refund commercial paper issued to finance the cost of nuclear fuel. The bonds mature from 2012 through 2017.

CHICAGO — Nebraska won a coveted AAA rating last week from Standard & Poor’s. The upgrade reflects Nebraska’s history of a stable economy, conservative budgeting, strong reserves, and one of the lowest debt burdens in the nation, according to analysts.

CHICAGO — As federal subsidies for renewable energy projects begin to expire, the role of states and local governments will become more important in getting deals done, according to panelists at The Bond Buyer’s Symposium on Public Financing of Sustainable Energy Projects here Wednesday.

CHICAGO — The new administration running Cook County, Ill., continued to fill out its top financial team last week with the appointment of a new budget director and a new deputy director of ­finance.