Shelly Sigo

BRADENTON, Fla. — Miami-Dade County commissioners on Tuesday said they stand ready to take over the Jackson Health System should the current board overseeing South Florida’s largest public hospital fail to rectify the financial crisis it now faces.

BRADENTON, Fla. — Florida is on the cusp of joining a nationwide trend by giving local governments the authority to use municipal bonds to help homeowners finance energy-conservation improvements.

The Atlanta BeltLine project last week was selected as the Best 2009 Bond Deal at the Council of Development Finance Agencies’ 2010 Annual Development Finance Summit in Portland, Ore.

Florida Attorney General Bill McCollum Friday amended the federal lawsuit he filed challenging the constitutionality of the new health care law to add seven new states, including Georgia and Mississippi, the National Federation of Independent Business, and two individuals.

An Alabama judge last week denied Montgomery bond dealer Bill Blount’s request for more time to report to prison so he can work to submit the $1 million forfeiture required as part of his conviction on pay-to-play charges centering on Jefferson County’s sewer bond deals.

The 11th Circuit Court of Appeals in Atlanta last week upheld the convictions of former Jefferson County Commissioner Chris McNair and Jack Swann, who oversaw the department in charge of rebuilding the county’s financially troubled sewer system.

BRADENTON, Fla. — Moody’s Investors Service yesterday said the Deepwater Horizon oil spill may ultimately result in negative credit impacts on state and local governments in Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, and Florida.

BRADENTON, Fla. — After years of study and indecision, Hillsborough County, Fla., officials have agreed to place on November’s ballot a proposal to increase the sales tax by 1% to fund long-term mass transit projects, including light rail.

BRADENTON, Fla. — Kentucky Gov. Steve Beshear forwarded a proposed budget for 2010-2012 on Wednesday that he hopes the General Assembly will adopt in a five-day special session later this month.

BRADENTON, Fla. — On the heels of a rating upgrade, the Florida Hurricane Catastrophe Fund Finance Corp. today plans to complete the pricing of $693 million of tax-exempt revenue bonds.

As Florida officials prepare for the landfall of oil from the Deep Horizon drilling rig disaster in the Gulf of Mexico, economic repercussions already are being felt in the fishing, hotel, and restaurant industries along the state’s western coast, officials reported Tuesday.

A Jefferson County circuit court judge last week denied a motion by JPMorgan to dismiss a lawsuit against the investment bank filed by Jefferson County.

BRADENTON, Fla. — The federal judge presiding over the Alabama ­Public School and College Authority’s case that attempts to void a swaption with ­JPMorgan has agreed with a joint request to delay the trial more than four months.

BRADENTON, Fla. — The governors of Kentucky and Tennessee have declared states of emergency to deal with disastrous floods and tornadoes that hit the states over the past weekend.

BRADENTON, Fla. — Three consortiums representing 15 local, national, and international firms have submitted qualifications to the Georgia Department of Transportation for consideration to develop the state’s first public-private partnership road project.

Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed presented his first budget Friday — a $558 million plan that includes funding for 100 new police officers and gives police a 3.5% raise.

Miami-Dade County commissioners Tuesday agreed to create an oversight board for the financially ailing Jackson Memorial health care system, which was overseen by an appointed board known as the Public Health Trust.

The Birmingham City Council last week formally told Alabama that it would use the recovery zone economic development bond volume cap of $26.8 million and recovery zone facility bond cap allocation of $40.24 million from Jefferson County.

Birmingham Mayor William Bell next week expects to present a plan to the City Council for a $70 million mixed-use hotel, retail, restaurant, and entertainment district next to the Birmingham-Jefferson Convention Complex.

BRADENTON, Fla. — Syncora Guarantee Inc. has filed a civil suit alleging that Jefferson County, Ala., and JPMorgan “fraudulently induced” it to provide more than $1 billion in insurance coverage for the county’s nearly $3.2 billion of variable- and auction-rate sewer warrants.