Caitlin Devitt

CHICAGO — Nonprofit hospitals have suffered a nearly 22% drop in pension plan median funding levels since 2007, a situation that could put further strain on the balance sheet of struggling facilities, according to a new report on pension challenges facing the sector by Standard & Poor's.

CHICAGO — Henry Ford Health System could spend up to $1 billion in a massive expansion plan that would include a $500 million investment in its flagship Detroit facility, the provider said this week.

Detroit Public Schools will not have to pay back property taxes it collected without voter approval from 2002 through 2004, the Michigan Supreme Court ruled last week.

For the first time in 17 months, Indiana’s monthly revenue collections exceeded the same month in the previous year, the state budget agency announced this week.

CHICAGO — The ­Bloom-Carroll Local School District in Ohio last week completed one of the first negotiated sales of qualified school construction bonds to take advantage of the new direct-subsidy payment option for issuers.

CHICAGO — The Detroit City Council Tuesday voted against Michigan legislation that would dissolve the city’s two main pension fund boards and transfer management of the two funds to a nonprofit group in Lansing.

CHICAGO — The police union in ­Toledo yesterday lost a bid for a temporary restraining order against the city following the approval of a fiscal 2010 budget that amends union contracts to help close a $48 million deficit and avoid a takeover by Ohio.

CHICAGO — The Michigan Municipal Bond Authority is expected to enter the market today with $255 million of notes to help cover Detroit Public Schools’ anticipated fiscal 2010 cash shortfall.

Moody’s Investors Service has cut its rating to Baa2 from Baa1 on the Cleveland Municipal School District’s general obligation debt.

Cincinnati-based Catholic Healthcare Partners has acquired Jewish Hospital, which will become part of CHP affiliate Mercy Health Partners of southwest Ohio.

Fitch Ratings this week downgraded Marquette, a continuing-care retirement community located north of Indianapolis, to BBB from A-minus.

CHICAGO — Detroit-based Miller, Canfield, Paddock and Stone PLC, Michigan’s top bond counsel firm, has tapped long-time public finance attorney Amanda Van Dusen to lead the public finance group.

Triple-A rated Columbus, Ohio, saved around $23 million over 20 years by issuing $192 million of Build America Bonds instead of traditional tax-exempt debt last November, the city’s longtime auditor estimated.

CHICAGO — Cook County, Ill.’s plan to issue $332 million of new-money debt advanced last week after a key board committee signed off on the borrowing.

CHICAGO — Private-equity group Cerberus Capital Management LP yesterday said it would buy Boston’s nonprofit Cerberus Christi Health Care for $830 million, taking over the Catholic system’s long-term debt and spending $400 million on capital upgrades.

CHICAGO — The Indianapolis market will gain six new public finance attorneys following the merger this month between Cleveland, Ohio-based law firm Benesch Friedlander Coplan & Aronoff LLP and longtime local firm Dann Pecar Newman & Kleiman PC.

The start date of a long-planned commuter line between Ann Arbor and Detroit has been postponed due to lack of funding.

An effort to set up a new casino in Fruitport Township located in Muskegon County advanced this week when Michigan Gov. Jennifer Granholm and the Little River Band of Ottawa Indians announced reaching a preliminary agreement on the proposal.

Fitch Ratings placed the Detroit Medical Center’s revenue bonds on positive watch and affirmed its BB rating Monday after a for-profit health care system announced it was interested in taking over the state’s largest charity care hospital.

CHICAGO — South Dakota lawmakers will attempt to hash out a final $4 billion budget for fiscal 2011 next week after suspending debate earlier this month to see if the state would receive up to $36 million in federal stimulus money that could be used to eliminate a deficit that’s roughly the same size.