Paul Burton

New York State's recently approved property tax cap will likely put greater pressure on local finances and ratings, particularly of school districts, Moody's Investors Service said in a report Tuesday.

New York City's pension funds recorded investment returns of more than 20% in fiscal 2011, according to preliminary numbers Comptroller John Liu released on Tuesday.

Gov. Tom Corbett late Thursday night signed a bill to prevent Harrisburg and other distressed small-to-medium-sized cities in Pennsylvania from filing for bankruptcy protection - at least for the next year - under the threat of losing all state aid.

Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Corbett got the on-time budget he wanted — by minutes.

Tom Corbett, ending a frenetic Thursday, won an 11th-hour concession from the legislature, which called for a referendum on any school district property tax increase that exceeds the inflation rate.

The board of New York's Metropolitan Transportation Authority on Wednesday authorized, without debate, the negotiated sale of up to $500 million of tax-exempt Series 2011A transportation revenue bonds.

Pennsylvania's House of Representatives on Wednesday was expected to send to Gov. Tom Corbett a $27.15 billion budget for fiscal 2012 that marked a 3% cut in spending.

Pennsylvania lawmakers continued to debate the $27.15 billion budget as the Thursday midnight deadline for passage loomed.

Pennsylvania's Senate late Tuesday approved a bill that would force a state takeover of Harrisburg and other financially strapped cities if they don't approve a recovery plan, and prohibit them from filing for bankruptcy protection.

New York has enacted the first-ever cap on local property taxes in the state. Gov. Andrew Cuomo signed the measure after the House and Senate approved it late Friday.

Massachusetts legislators on Monday approved an interim 10-day $1.25 billion budget while they finish their spending plan for fiscal 2012.

The Pennsylvania Higher Educational Facilities Authority plans to sell $118.4 million of Series AM fixed-rate, tax-exempt revenue bonds through competitive bid on Wednesday.

As Tuesday's public hearing nears on the proposed fiscal recovery plan for Harrisburg, many agree that regardless of whether Pennsylvania's distressed capital city files for Chapter 9 bankruptcy protection, getting all parties to look beyond their own interests is a major task.

Rhode Island's public colleges have proposed legislation to establish their own purchasing departments to spend money raised from tuition and fees.

Gov. John Lynch on Friday let the state's budget become law without his signature. "This is not a budget I can endorse," Lynch, a Democrat, said two days after the Republican-controlled legislature approved the $10.2 billion, two-year spending plan.

Linden Ponds Inc., operator of a retirement community in Hingham, has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection.

WASHINGTON - Amid a lackluster housing market, additional downgrades of military base projects and budgetary uncertainty, adjustment was the theme Thursday at The Bond Buyer's sixth annual military housing privatization conference.

NEW YORK - A Pennsylvania Senate committee passed a bill Wednesday calling for a state takeover of Harrisburg and other distressed communities that don’t approve a financial recovery plan under the Act 47 program.

NEW YORK - Harrisburg’s City Council passed a resolution Tuesday night requesting Mayor Linda Thompson to prepare for a bankruptcy filing, should Pennsylvania’s capital city not receive approval for a financial recovery plan proposed last week.

New York's Metropolitan Transportation Authority on Wednesday will remarket $347.7 million of dedicated tax fund variable-rate refunding bonds originally sold in 2008.