Caitlin Devitt

The chairman of the bond-issuing Michigan State Housing Authority is the target of several lawsuits adding up to more than $100 million, according to a report in the Detroit News this week.

Fitch Ratings downgraded $98 million of general obligation bonds issued for the Indianapolis-Marion County Public Library to AA from AAA.

The Cook County, Ill., Board of Commissioners passed a $3.4 billion all-funds fiscal 2010 budget last week, marking the first time in 10 years that the board passed a budget before the end of the county’s fiscal year.

CHICAGO — Ohio Attorney General Richard Cordray filed a lawsuit in federal court Friday accusing the three major rating agencies of colluding with banks and issuers of mortgage-backed securities by inflating ratings on the debt, leading to major market losses for investors like Ohio’s pension and retirement funds.

CHICAGO — Detroit hopes to issue up to $250 million of fiscal stabilization bonds — a move that would require a change in Michigan law — as part of Mayor Dave Bing’s plan to eliminate the city’s $325 million deficit and avoid running out of cash by early next year.

CHICAGO — Fitch Ratings this week downgraded $572 million of sales tax-backed debt issued by Hamilton County, Ohio, as it faces a steep decline in the revenue source that funds general operations and its two major sports stadiums.

CHICAGO — The Cook County, Ill., Board of Commissioners this week voted to repeal half of a sales tax increase that was implemented last year and remains the most unpopular and controversial tax hike in recent county history.

CHICAGO — The economies of Iowa, Nebraska, and the Dakotas have emerged as some of the healthiest in the U.S., enjoying a rare stability anchored by strong commodity prices while largely escaping the strains posed in other states by the housing market’s collapse and high unemployment.

CHICAGO — Ohio-based public power provider American Municipal Power Inc. today will price $605 million of revenue bonds — the bulk of which are taxable Build America Bonds — to raise funds for the first stage of construction of a trio of hydroelectric plants along the Ohio River.

Moody’s Investors Service downgraded Madison’s water revenue bonds one notch to Aa2 due to challenges facing the system that have hurt its liquidity levels.

Moody’s Investors Service affirmed its A2 rating on Southwest General Health Center, located in the Cleveland suburb of Middleburg Heights, and revised its outlook to stable from negative after the center reported three years of improved operating results.

In the latest episode in the years-long effort to build a $425 million medical mart in Cleveland, the firm that plans to build the center has proposed a new downtown location, a move that “stunned” local politicians, according to reports.

A Toronto-based real estate company is the new owner of the Pontiac Silverdome, former home of the Detroit Lions, after the cash-strapped city auctioned it off last week.

Oakland County Executive L. Brooks Patterson said he plans to hold a summit next month for local government officials to discuss challenges facing Michigan municipalities.

CHICAGO — William Beaumont Hospital, one of Michigan’s largest health care systems, plans to enter the market next week with $273 million of fixed-rate new-money and refunding bonds that will continue the system’s efforts to reduce its floating-rate risks.

CHICAGO — Rapid City, S.D., will enter the market Tuesday with $44 million of water revenue bonds, a relatively large borrowing for the single-A rated home of the Mt. Rushmore National Monument.

CHICAGO — Cleveland is considering imposing new taxes, requiring the city’s hospitals and other nonprofit organizations to pay an annual fee, and selling or leasing its cemeteries as part of an effort to shore up its fiscal position.

CHICAGO — General fund revenues in Michigan are expected to decline more than 20% in fiscal 2009 from last year — the single largest drop since the state began tracking the figures in 1962, fiscal officials say.

Faced with another month of lower-than-expected revenues, Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels ordered state agencies to defer all capital projects and to cut their budgets by 10%.

Cook County President Todd Stroger yesterday announced that up to $197 million of recovery zone facility bonds are available to private businesses to finance a range of capital projects.