Paul Burton

The Allentown, Pa., City Council late Thursday night approved a $220 million water-and-sewer lease deal with the Lehigh County Authority, with proceeds to erase unfunded pension liability.

Massachusetts has adopted more rigorous guidelines for bond refundings that state officials say will enable them to better gauge opportunities for such deals.

The Massachusetts Water Pollution Abatement Trust maintained its triple-A rating from all three major credit rating agencies in advance of its $205 million sale.

New York MTA chairman-designate Thomas Prendergast said favorable state aid might partially offset the size of a fare and toll increase in 2015.

The Lehigh County Authority said it would finance $220 million for the Allentown, Pa., water-and-sewer concession through low interest, 30-year bonds.

New York's Metropolitan Transportation Authority completed its first bond transaction entirely managed and underwritten by minority- and women-owned firms.

Variable-rate represents 8% of the total debt of New York's Metropolitan Transportation Authority and is well under its threshold, a finance official said.

Fitch Ratings downgraded New Haven's general obligation bonds to A, citing weakened financial flexibility, above average debt and high future retiree costs.

Rhode Island Superior Court signed off on a pension overhaul agreement between Providence and its police officers, firefighters and retirees that Mayor Angel Taveras said possibly saved the capital city from filing for bankruptcy.

The Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education's board of governors approved up to $32 million in fixed-rate bonding for four capital projects.

The Department of Economic and Community Development awarded $10.6 million in loans and grants to remediate nine brownfields throughout Connecticut.

Fitch Ratings downgraded the general obligation bonds of Hamden, Conn., to BBB-plus from A-minus, affecting about $78.5 million of debt.

Mayor Ed Pawlowski told the Allentown, Pa., City Council that without a $220 million lease of its water and sewer system, "we'll be just another Pennsylvania city making ugly headlines."

New York City has issued an RFP for a new health care contract, with deputy mayor Cas Holloway calling labor contracts and benefit packages pressing challenges.

Philadelphia city officials have excluded the media from their investor conference, triggering objections from news outlets including The Bond Buyer.

Some Pennsylvania Republican lawmakers propose using money from the expected privatization of the state's liquor stores to rebuild roads and bridges.

The Massachusetts House debated an alternative transportation and education financing bill one-fourth the size of what Gov. Deval Patrick has proposed.

Rhode Island Gov. Lincoln Chafee nominated Marcel Valois to serve as executive director of the R.I. Economic Development Commission, one year after the 38 Studios fiasco.

Gov. Tom Corbett has ordered a rebid of an IT contract and reviews of all vendors named in the Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission pay-to-play scandal.

The key substantive issues differ in the Stockton, Calif., and Central Falls, R.I., bankruptcy filings, said Theodore Orson, the Chapter 9 attorney for Central Falls.