Jim Watts

DALLAS — Louisiana state agencies have proposed $248 million of budget cuts for the remainder of fiscal 2010 as called for by Gov. Bobby Jindal as revenues continue to drop.

Trustees of the Lafayette Parish School Board Jan. 6 will decide which projects will be financed with $10 million of proceeds from the district’s recent sale of qualified school construction bonds.

The Tulsa suburb of Jenks will hold a Feb. 9 election on a $6.7 million bond issue that would provide the required local match to three street projects.

Tim Gilpin, a member of the Oklahoma Board of Education, last week criticized legislative leaders for not calling a special session to address a $43 million cut in state aid to education over the past four months.

Arkansas Gov. Mike Beebe last week shot down a proposal to shift a portion of sales tax revenues to highway projects before a transportation financing committee had a chance to suggest the move.

The Arkansas Supreme Court ruled last week in a unanimous decision that Pulaski County levied a 20-year, one-mill increase in the property tax rate a year earlier than it should have.

Voters in Scottsdale will decide whether to increase the city's hotel tax by two percentage points to 13.92% on March 9. Officials said the increased tax would raise an additional $5.5 million in revenue.

The Louisiana Bond Commission gave its approval yesterday to the state holding onto 99% of the Louisiana Superdome's outstanding auction-rate securities for another year.

The preliminary report from the Commission on Streamlining Government appointed by Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal includes more than $1 billion in potential budget cuts. The total of the 236 proposed cuts is more than the $802 million in reduced spending sought by Jindal.

Oklahoma state agencies will get 10% less than appropriated for December, as tax revenue fell in November for the 11th consecutive month.

Investors interested in today's $40 million competitive sale by New Orleans can bid for the debt as Build America Bonds or conventional general obligation bonds, with the lowest offered rate winning the entire tranche.

The University of Arkansas will begin a multi-year effort to renovate facilities at its main campus in Fayetteville with most of the proceeds from this week's negotiated sale of $51.9 million of facility revenue bonds by the University of Arkansas Board of Trustees.

Comal County commissioners last week set a May election on $36 million of general obligation bonds to build a new justice center in New Braunfels after residents stopped a plan to issue certificates of obligation for the facility.

The decline in sales tax collections that began in February continued in November, Texas Controller Susan Combs said last week, as the $1.7 billion of revenue that came in for the month was down 14.4% from November 2008.

Kansas budget director Duane Goossen said last week that most of the 295 school districts in the state will not receive their full December aid allotment until early January due to lower-than-expected state revenue.

The Arkansas Highway and Transportation Department has prepared a list of 130 state road projects, costing $1.1 billion, that could get under way quickly if a new federal stimulus law is proposed.

Local school districts are expected to take advantage of a new Arizona law signed by Gov. Jan Brewer in September that will allow districts to ask voters for a 15% property tax override, for up to seven years, on March 9.

DALLAS — Voters across Oklahoma went to the polls on Tuesday to support more than $470 million of school bonds requested by local districts. All five bond proposals on the ballot obtained the 60% majority needed to pass school bonds.

Collections resulting from Louisiana’s state tax amnesty program totaled $450.6 million, more than triple the amount expected when it began. Another $15 million was generated through tax settlements that were not eligible for the program, the Department of Revenue said Monday.

DALLAS — A $354 million general obligation bond issue outlined for trustees of the Tulsa County Independent School District No. 1 on Monday night would continue efforts contained in a 20-year capital improvement program adopted in 1995.