Yvette Shields

Illinois hopes to select a private partner to develop its estimated $1.1 billion share of the proposed Illiana toll road by next fall with the goal of closing on a finance package as soon as early 2015, a top state transportation official said Thursday.

Municipal borrowers looking to expedite the process to tap the Transportation Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act program for project loans should bring a thorough financing package to the table and be flexible in negotiating terms, loan recipients offered up as advice Thursday.

The Chicago Infrastructure Trust approved its inaugural financing -- a $27.5 million tax-exempt private placement to finance city energy efficiency projects – advancing it to the City Council.

Missouri local governments' penchant for negotiated sales over competitive bidding resulted in an estimated $43 million in higher costs over a four-year period, state auditor Tom Schweich concluded.

American Airlines and US Airways Group Inc. settled an antitrust lawsuit with the U.S. Department of Justice, clearing American's path to exit bankruptcy and repay its municipal bondholders.

The Illinois Finance Authority is selling $134.5 million of top-rated state revolving fund bonds in a deal that marks the state's first SRF borrowing in nine years and ushers in an expanded $1 billion loan program.

Jackson County, Missouri voters overwhelmingly rejected a sales tax hike aimed at raising $800 million over the next two decades to fund the establishment of a new research institute.

Moody's Investors Service has revised its outlook on the University of Chicago Medical Center's Aa3 rating to negative over declines in is operating margins over the last two fiscal years.

Standard & Poor's has revised its outlook on Chicago-based Presence Health Network's BBB-plus rating to negative from stable over its operating losses.

A majority of St. Louis convention center hotel bondholders who took ownership after a bond default agreed to a deal to sell the larger of the complex's two hotels.

Fitch Ratings late Friday socked Chicago's general obligation rating with a triple-notch downgrade over its mounting pension woes and lack of a solution to date.

Illinois lawmakers wrapped up their annual veto session Thursday without acting on a state pension fix, but they did pass a pension overhaul for the Chicago Park District that is being labeled a framework for potential city changes.

Illinois cleared out its previous fiscal year's bills at the quickest pace since 2009 but its fiscal position could deteriorate as bills are again mounting and the income tax windfall of last April won't be repeated, the state comptroller warns in quarterly report.

The Chicago Infrastructure Trust settled on a model for its inaugural financing but may miss its goal of closing on $27 million deal by the end of the year.

Illinois expects to collect $369 million more in revenue than previously estimated by the end of the current fiscal year, according to new estimates.

Illinois legislative leaders reported "progress" on a fix for the state's underfunded pension system, but not enough to pass legislation this week during the General Assembly's annual veto session.

The Illinois State Toll Highway Authority plans to borrow $900 million of new money next year to help support its 15-year, $12 billion capital program.

The Minneapolis City Council is expected to vote later this month on the city's agreement with the National Basketball Association's Minnesota Timberwolves on a $97 million renovation plan for the city-owned Target Center arena.

The Wisconsin Center District Board has decided to undertake a study on whether it makes financial sense to expand Milwaukee's downtown convention center.

Moody's Investors Service downgraded $10.8 million of certificates of participation issued for a Chicago tax-increment financing district two notches to the lowest investment grade level, Baa3.