Karen is a senior reporter covering the Southwest. She has covered the municipal bond market for more than 30 years at The Bond Buyer and Reuters. Prior to that she wrote about futures and options markets for magazines and was an award-winning reporter for a suburban Chicago newspaper chain.
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Initiatives planned for the Nov. 5 ballot raised concerns in the state's municipal bond market over higher borrowing costs and litigation.
August 29 -
Property taxpayers want a state court to order the city to reduce its 2024 tax levy by $187 million earmarked for a now-downsized mass transit plan.
August 27 -
While the nonprofit hospital sector shows signs of stabilizing, Houston-based Texas Children's Hospital faces fiscal problems that led to two rating downgrades.
August 27 -
Up to $2.065 billion of taxable notes could be issued to finance termination of a public-private partnership that built a toll lane project in Harris County.
August 23 -
The rating agency estimated the cost of college and university capital needs at $750 billion to $950 billion over the next decade.
August 21 -
Clyde, Texas, missed payments on certificates of participation due Aug. 1, the same day it declared a water emergency. Bond insurers are paying the holders.
August 20 -
The estimated $100 million raised annually from the 0.5% tax increase on the Nov. 5 ballot could be used to back bonds for affordable housing.
August 20 -
Issuers in the eight-state region sold $50.6 billion of bonds with Texas accounting for 65% of the volume.
August 20 -
State lawmakers will be back in session Aug. 26 in an effort to head off ballot initiatives that worry the state's public finance industry.
August 16 -
Eduardo Ramos had faced insurance fraud charges that were unrelated to his work at the school district.
August 16 -
Salt Lake City School District is seeking $730 million of bonds and Salt Lake County is asking for $507 million of bonds at the Nov. 5 general election.
August 15 -
Dallas Fort Worth International Airport received a S&P rating upgrade and a positive rating outlook from Moody's ahead of a $750 million bond sale next week.
August 13 -
Municipal bond market participants say a proposed constitutional amendment targeting property tax revenue would increase borrowing costs and lead to litigation.
August 13 -
Texas' largest school district, which was taken over by the state last year, is seeking voter approval for bonds for the first time since 2012.
August 9 -
The Greater Arizona Development Authority, which has been inactive for nearly a decade, will once again offer lower cost financing for rural communities and tribal governments.
August 8 -
The July 31 arrest of Eduardo Ramos, who submitted his resignation July 23, was not related to his job, according to the school system.
August 6 -
The states and others are pushing back against studies showing adverse financial effects from laws that punish banks for their fossil fuel and firearm policies.
August 6 -
The mayor and controller debated the causes for the rating outlook revision to negative from stable ahead of a July city bond sale.
July 31 -
Concerns have been raised about audits related to nearly $2.9 billion of ratepayer-backed bonds sold for Oklahoma utilities in 2022.
July 30 -
Continued economic growth and budgetary discipline could lead to an upgrade of the state's AA rating over the next two years, S&P said.
July 26
