Caitlin Devitt

The Cincinnati City Council was poised to vote Tuesday on a number of changes to the city’s $2.1 billion pension system in an effort to tackle an estimated $1 billion shortfall.

Revised revenue projections show Nebraska is expected to collect $44.5 million more than expected over the next two years — dollars that lawmakers will use to help offset a $986 million shortfall in the upcoming two-year budget.

Cook County has a new $3.1 billion 2012 budget that relies on 10 furlough days to avoid substantial layoffs and rolls back an unpopular sales-tax increase starting next year. The budget balances a record $487 million shortfall.

After winning long-awaited approval from a bond insurer, Detroit Public Schools plans to enter the market Thursday with $231 million of one-year notes urgently needed to make payroll through August.

CHICAGO — Former Ohio Treasurer Kevin Boyce has joined Rice Financial Products Co. to staff the firm's Columbus office.

Indiana would prohibit bond issuers from hedging more than 20% of their outstanding debt in a bill that passed the state Senate Tuesday and now heads to the House.

CHICAGO — Double-A rated Ohio Wednesday will price two series of bonds totaling $58 million to finance cultural, sports, parks, and recreation projects across the state.

Moody's Investors Service dropped its rating to Ba3 from Ba1 on Garden City Hospital's long-term debt and said it will maintain its negative outlook even at the lower rating level.

Fitch Ratings last week revised its outlook to negative on Kalamazoo while affirming its AA-plus rating on much of the city's outstanding bonds.

A committee of the Indianapolis Marion County City-County Council Wednesday approved Mayor Greg Ballard's plan to issue up to $98 million of bonds to support construction of a new Eli Lilly & Co. campus. The full council will consider the measure Feb. 28.

CHICAGO — Illinois plans to sell $3.7 billion of taxable general obligation bonds Tuesday and Wednesday, the state said this morning.

CHICAGO — New Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder presented a $45.9 billion all-funds fiscal 2012 budget that features $1.8 billion in cuts and what the governor dubbed a sweeping overhaul of the state’s tax structure.

CHICAGO — Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn Wednesday unveiled a $53 billion fiscal 2012 budget that relies on a controversial $8.75 billion bond sale to pay off a huge backlog of bills bogging down the cash-strapped state.

CHICAGO — Minnesota Gov. Mark Dayton unveiled a two-year, $64 billion spending plan that relies heavily on income tax increases to overcome a $6.2 billion shortfall.

CHICAGO — Illinois has postponed its $3.7 billion taxable general obligation bond sale scheduled for Thursday until next week to give investors time to digest Gov. Pat Quinn’s budget proposal Wednesday.

An Illinois surge helped issuance volume in the Midwest rise more than 26% last year, to $83.8 billion.

A week before Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker presents a fiscal 2012 budget, he unveiled a controversial “budget repair” bill that implements a number of strategies, including major employee cuts, to eliminate the state’s current $137 million shortfall.

The Michigan Department of Natural Resources last Friday gave an initial green light to a new coal-fired power plant to be located in the city of Holland.

Cash-strapped Detroit estimates it spent $1.24 million on snow removal and clean-up from the blizzard that swept across much of the Midwest two weeks ago.

The Detroit Water and Sewerage Department will now be run by a new regional water board, ending months of negotiation between city and county officials.