Caitlin Devitt

Moody's Investors Service downgraded the Cleveland suburb of Maple Heights two notches into junk territory a week after the state auditor declared a fiscal emergency and two months after the city missed payments on sewer loans to the state.

Detroit leaders are poised to send a $1 billion 2016 budget to the financial committee that oversees the bankrupt city that it hopes will be the first of three straight balanced budgets that would give the city financial independence by 2018.

Easing Detroit Public Schools' debt burden is considered key to the district's revival and survival, and bankruptcy is possible, according to one of the reformers working on the turnaround effort.

Ohio Auditor David Yost has declared the city of Maple Heights to be in a state of financial emergency after the Cleveland suburb missed payments on sewer loans in January and showed deficits in its general and debt service funds.

A week after pushing Wayne County, Mich. to junk territory, Standard & Poor's released a commentary saying it's too early to start talking about bankruptcy or a state takeover for the county, home to Detroit.

Michigan is reportedly looking for ways to provide debt relief for the cash-strapped Detroit Public Schools as part of a larger turnaround plan.

Federal Bankruptcy Judge Thomas Tucker, who took over Detroit's bankruptcy this week, asked attorneys to meet with him to address any lingering issues in the historic case.

With hospital issuance up so far in 2015 and likely to stay that way, investors may not be sufficiently compensated for the sector's risks, according to Municipal Market Advisors.

The January default by a well-off Indiana school district, though quickly cured, reveals problems with the state funding formula and investors' reliance on state school enhancement programs, market participants say.

Detroit will float $119 million of water and sewer bonds through the state's revolving fund under a resolution approved Thursday by the financial commission that oversees the post-bankrupt city.

U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Steven Rhodes has approved $183 million of fees charged by professionals during the city's bankruptcy, in a ruling that heaps praise on the attorneys and consultants who worked on the city's behalf.

The Detroit Water and Sewerage Department wants to impose double-digit rate hikes to offset flat revenues even as the city and suburban leaders continue to try to hammer out a final deal to lease the troubled department to a regional authority for 40 years.

Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder's 2016 executive budget features only modest spending increases and little borrowing as the governor continues to push lawmakers to support a sales tax increase to generate $1.3 billion in new road money.

Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan said in his state of the city address Wednesday night that the city is on the road to recovery and that he’s focused on growing population to ensure long-term survival.

Owners of the bankrupt Indiana Toll Road assured a federal bankruptcy judge recently that they expect to find a new owner for the 75-year lease within a few months and that the asset could fetch as much as $5 billion.

Indiana finance chief Kendra York has quit to join an engineering firm that works on public-private partnerships, and Gov. Mike Pence has appointed long-time public finance figure Dan Huge as interim director.

Nebraska legislators will hold a public hearing March 3 on a bill that would give bondholders priority over retirees in the event of a bankruptcy.

A day after Wayne County officials warned of a grim financial picture, Moody's Investors Service stripped the county of its investment-grade rating and Fitch Ratings put its already junk-bond ratings on negative watch.

Michigan gave Flint $2 million to improve its water quality, which has plummeted since it exited Detroit's system, under the state's new distressed cities program.

Fitch Ratings, which already maintains junk ratings on Wayne County, Mich., put the ratings on a negative watch just hours after the release of a new audit that warns the county could be out of cash by next summer.