Shelly Sigo

BRADENTON, Fla. — Standard & Poor’s yesterday affirmed its A-minus rating, with a stable outlook, on the Prichard Waterworks and Sewer Board in Alabama.

Tennessee Comptroller Justin Wilson has extended the deadline until Jan. 8 for his office to receive public comments on a proposed model debt-management policy for local governments.

Moody’s Investors Service last week downgraded Collier County’s capital improvement revenue bonds to A2 from A1.

The Jefferson County Commission has enacted a new occupational tax, as required by the Alabama Legislature, but a local dentist has filed a lawsuit challenging it.

Florida school districts face rising negative fiscal and credit pressures stemming from the weak economy, funding uncertainties, and property tax reform, Moody's Investors Service said in a special report last week.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit Monday reinstated former Jefferson County, Ala., commissioner Gary White's 2008 conspiracy and bribery convictions and returned the case to Birmingham for sentencing.

Kentucky Gov. Steve Beshear announced late last week the sale of $100 million of grant anticipation revenue vehicle bonds for the Ohio River Bridge Project.

Florida Gov. Charlie Crist Wednesday visited four cities to conduct the ceremonial signing of the state's first comprehensive passenger rail bill, which has the potential to jump-start the long-delayed central Florida commuter rail project known as SunRail.

The consolidated Metropolitan Government of Nashville and Davidson County is reviewing a finance plan to build a new $585 million convention center. But the idea is controversial because most of the debt for the project would be backed by a general fund pledge of non-ad valorem revenue.

Moody's Investors Service on Tuesday downgraded DeKalb County's $471 million of outstanding general obligation unlimited-tax backed and parity debt, issued through various public authorities, to Aa1 from Aaa.

Alex Sink, Florida's elected chief financial officer who is running for governor in 2010, on Monday urged Federal Railroad Administration head Joseph Szabo to consider the state's request for $2.6 billion to develop a high-speed rail corridor between Tampa and Orlando.

Dr. Rafick-Pierre Sekaly and other scientists at the Vaccine and Gene Therapy Institute of Florida are looking for "nothing short of cures" when it comes to diseases such as HIV, swine flu, and the West Nile virus, says the institute's chief operating officer, Mark Williams.

BRADENTON, Fla. — Florida Gov. Charlie Crist is urging U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood to approve Florida’s application for high-speed rail funding now that lawmakers have passed a statewide rail policy and funding bill.

BRADENTON, Fla. — Atlanta elected a new mayor after a recount and took steps to make the city eligible to sell $34 million of Recovery Zone facility bonds allocated by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.

BRADENTON, Fla. — The Georgia Department of Transportation plans to offer its first public-private partnership concession earlier than planned next year with two metro Atlanta interstate highway projects estimated to cost more than $2 billion.

BRADENTON, Fla. — The Florida Legislature late Tuesday finished work on a bill enacting a statewide comprehensive passenger rail policy and providing funds for existing and new rail projects.

Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour has ordered another $54.3 million in budget cuts, as revenue projections have persistently outpaced actual collections.

Gilt-edged Georgia has refinanced approximately $658 million of its outstanding general obligation bonds at lower interest rates that will save the state more than $35 million of debt service, including $18.3 million in the state’s current fiscal year, Gov. Sonny Perdue announced.

Florida’s Senate president, Jeff Atwater, R-Palm Beach, has announced the creation of a new Senate Budget Office to provide greater oversight of legislative expenditures.

Voters in Birmingham went to the polls on Tuesday to elect a new mayor but a crowded field of more than a dozen candidates on the ballot resulted in a runoff to be held Jan. 19 between Patrick Cooper, an attorney who led with 40% of the ballots cast, and Jefferson County commissioner William Bell, who took 25% of votes.