Shelly Sigo

BRADENTON, Fla. — A myriad of options, including the use of pension bonds, are being considered in Atlanta, where spending on retirement benefits has soared to 20% of the city’s $523 million annual operating budget and the unfunded liability is now $1.5 billion.

In a special report Monday, Fitch Ratings said negative rating actions against Florida credits last year outpaced positive actions by three-to-one, but the agency expects ratings to stabilize in 2010.

Palm Beach County commissioners Tuesday selected Ruden McClosky Smith Schuster & Russell PA to be bond counsel and to perform related legal services related to the development of a planned convention center hotel.

A long-planned project to expand the Birmingham-Jefferson Convention Complex with a domed stadium may be slowed once again because of the recession.

BRADENTON, Fla. — Former Montgomery, Ala., bond dealer William Blount and lobbyist Albert LaPierre are scheduled to be sentenced Friday in Alabama federal court after pleading guilty to pay-to-play charges related to Jefferson ­County’s troubled sewer debt.

BRADENTON, Fla. — On the heels of an upgrade for its Garvees, Kentucky tomorrow plans to sell $90 million of the debt for work related to its share of the massive $4.1 billion Louisville-Southern Indiana Ohio River Bridges Project.

After receiving a federal loan commitment Tuesday, the Municipal Electric Authority of Georgia yesterday announced it would soon sell $2.53 billion of municipal bonds for the project. The U.S. Department of Energy said MEAG would receive approximately $1.8 billion in loan guarantees toward construction of its share of two new nuclear units being planned at Plant Vogtle in Georgia.

Miami-Dade County expects to be in the market early next week for a two-day pricing of $600 million of water and sewer bonds — the first round of large yearly debt sales for a newly revised $4.2 billion capital improvement program.

Standard & Poor's Tuesday raised the underlying rating on the Lamar County School District's general obligation bonds two notches to A from BBB-plus based primarily on its rapidly expanding property tax base and good income levels.

Kentucky's general fund receipts fell 3.3% in January compared to January 2009, a decrease of $23.9 million.

Atlanta BeltLine Inc.'s board of directors last week selected lead designers for the BeltLine project and established the basis for future design and construction, the agency announced.

Vestavia Hills City Council president David Carrington has announced he will run for a seat on the Jefferson County Commission that is opening this year.

BRADENTON, Fla. — The Owensboro Medical Health System in Kentucky this week is expected to price $545 million of fixed-rate revenue and refunding bonds as part of a finance plan to build a new hospital and terminate two swaps.

BRADENTON, Fla. — Louisiana federal Judge Kurt Engelhardt has agreed to hear oral arguments April 21 from PaineWebber Capital Services Inc. and UBS Securities LLC on their motion to dismiss a suit filed by New Orleans involving the failed remarketing of its firefighters’ pension bonds.

Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour Friday ordered $21 million in cuts to state agencies, bringing the total agency reductions to nearly 8.7% for the current fiscal year.

Kentucky Gov. Steve Beshear is proposing as part of his fiscal 2011 budget to refinance as much as $500 million of internal state loans originally used to pay medical benefits of the Kentucky Teacher Retirement Systems.

The Georgia State Transportation Board last Friday voted 9 to 2 to rescind a prior decision that would have changed the way the Georgia Department of Transportation conducts its accounting practice, a spokeswoman said.

BRADENTON, Fla. — ­Investors in Florida’s distressed community development districts should expect an increasing number of defaults, primarily on bonds sold during the state’s real estate boom years, a new report by ­Interactive Data Corp. warned yesterday.

BRADENTON, Fla. — The new bi-state authority created by Kentucky and Indiana to develop a $4.1 billion finance plan to build new bridges over the Ohio River met for the first time Tuesday in an organizational session.

BRADENTON, Fla. — The Florida Supreme Court Monday decided to hear oral arguments on April 7 in the South Florida Water Management District’s quest to get legal validation for $650 million of certificates of participation, the sale of which is being opposed by two ­appellants.