Shelly Sigo

Standard & Poor's raised its long-term revenue bond rating on Florida's Seacoast Utility Authority to AA-minus from A-plus.

Florida has officially given the final approval for the $2.1 billion I-4 Ultimate Project in central Florida to move forward as the state’s largest public-private partnership.

Kentucky prices $153.5 million of taxable notes Thursday to finance health care benefits owed to the Teachers' Retirement System.

Assured Guaranty said Monday that it disagrees with the trustee for Jefferson County, Ala.'s sewer warrants to suspend payments, and will continue to make good on its insurance policies.

Fitch Ratings downgraded nearly $2 billion of Miami-Dade County's outstanding water and sewer revenue bonds one notch to A-plus from AA-minus on Friday.

Bank of New York Mellon said Friday that it will stop payments on Jefferson County, Ala.'s defaulted sewer warrants, and will seek court approval to accelerate payment of outstanding principal.

Gov. Rick Scott upped his spending and borrowing plans for 2014 proposing Florida's largest ever annual budget at $74.2 billion along with $730 million of bonds for transportation projects.

The Florida Department of Transportation is forging ahead with its biggest public-private partnership to date: a $2.1 billion managed-lanes venture dubbed the Interstate 4 Ultimate Project.

In Lexington, Ky., elected officials and union representatives may have set the stage for a new level of dialogue on how to solve unfunded pension liabilities using a public process and consensus to overhaul the city's police and fire pension system.

Word has surfaced that Los Angeles may make an offer for the Atlanta Falcons. The news comes as the Falcons are trying to negotiate for a new $1 billion stadium.

Miami-Dade County approved a resolution last week supporting a plan for public taxes to pay half the $400 million cost of upgrading the stadium where the NFL's Miami Dolphins play.

Citing fiscal imbalances, Fitch Ratings on Monday downgraded the implied general obligation of the Marion County School Board in north-central Florida to A-plus from AA-minus.

The new sewer rate structure recently approved by Jefferson County, Ala., commissioners is an interim plan that can be altered as creditors negotiate a settlement to restructure more than $3 billion of defaulted debt, the county said.

The Florida Hurricane Catastrophe Fund Finance Corp. is preparing to sell up to $2 billion of taxable notes this spring for liquidity to pay claims, if needed.

The Florida Department of Transportation is proposing a network of regional transportation toll authorities that would take some financing pressure off the state and move projects forward.

Fitch Ratings and Moody's Investors Service said the decision by the Florida Supreme Court upholding legislation requiring that employees contribute to the Florida Retirement System is positive for state and local governments.

The United States 11th Circuit Court of Appeals on Tuesday tentatively scheduled oral arguments in the appeal involving Jefferson County, Ala.'s sewer system receiver for the week of June 3. Creditors have appealed a ruling that stripped the receiver of the right to run the county's sewer system.

Moody's Investors Service placed tobacco settlement revenue bonds of issuers in 17 states and two territories under review with direction uncertain because of legal settlement announced in December. The action affects $20.5 billion of debt.

A ruling by the Florida Supreme Court last week upholding the state's pension reform measures is a positive credit factor, according to Standard & Poor's.

Public Financial Management Inc. has hired veteran Georgia banker Dick Layton as a director in the firm's financial advisory practice in Atlanta.