Yvette Shields

CHICAGO — Standard & Poor’s Thursday downgraded the already junk-bond rated Xenia Rural Water District in Iowa to D from BB after it failed to make its full June debt-service payment on $83 million of outstanding bonds from a 2006 issue.

CHICAGO — The Minneapolis-St. Paul Metropolitan Airports Commission will enter the market later this month with a nearly $150 million mostly new-money sale of senior-lien revenue bonds as it seeks to take advantage of the federal alternative minimum tax holiday.

CHICAGO — Illinois closed the books on fiscal 2010 last week in the “worst fiscal position in its history,” with a record $4.7 billion in unpaid bills as floundering revenues failed to cover spending, Comptroller Dan Hynes reported in his quarterly overview of the state’s fiscal condition.

CHICAGO — Newly proposed pension fund accounting and reporting guidance from the Governmental Accounting Standards Board could pressure some governmental units to boost their contribution levels, Moody’s Investors Service concluded in a new report.

CHICAGO — Missouri, a triple-A rated and rare borrower, will competitively sell $125 million of refunding and restructuring general obligation bonds today in a deal crafted to achieve near-term budget relief and long-term debt-service savings.

Standard & Poor last week raised to A-plus from A its rating for Missouri State University’s auxiliary enterprise system revenue bonds due to an improved balance sheet.

Iowa Gov. Chet Culver last week said revised figures from the Department of Management show the state closed out fiscal 2010 with an estimated $275 million ending balance due to cost-saving measures and the improving economy.

Chicago plans to allow for the temporary sponsorship of city bridge houses and will auction off 50 taxi medallions under a series of measures announced last week by Mayor Richard Daley to help the city’s balance sheet.

CHICAGO — The potential sale of the smaller of two facilities that make up the bondholder-owned St. Louis convention center hotel complex is on hold following a review of pending bids and in light of the generally improving economic conditions, according to a bondholder notice published last week.

CHICAGO — The Minnesota Nurses Association and 14 hospitals in the Twin Cities area reached an agreement late last week on a new contract, averting a threatened strike by 12,000 nurses that was set to start this week.

CHICAGO — Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn Thursday signed a fiscal 2011 budget that deals with the state’s $12 billion deficit through $1.4 billion in cuts, borrowing and other one-time maneuvers and leaves $6 billion of bills unpaid.

CHICAGO – Chicago Public Schools treasurer David Bryant is among several members of the system’s Treasury Department who were claimed by layoffs announced this week to help trim labor costs.

CHICAGO — States are now suffering the effects of the decline in public pension fund assets from the market downturn of 2008, forcing some to reconsider benefit levels or shift spending at the expense of core services, Standard & Poor’s warned in a report published yesterday.

CHICAGO — With Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn poised to sign the fiscal 2011 budget today amid a drumbeat of negative financial news, experts recently offered suggestions for tackling the state’s budget crisis that range from expanding the sales tax base to creating a ­fiscal watchdog commission.

Standard & Poor’s upgraded the Sarah Bush Lincoln Health Center to A-plus due to its strong balance sheet.

Fitch Ratings stripped Bethesda Home and Retirement Center of its investment-grade rating, lowering the credit to BB-plus from BBB-minus due to its deteriorating balance sheet in 2008 and 2009. The action affects $2.6 million of bonds issued through the former Illinois Health Facilities Authority. The outlook was revised to stable from negative.

Chicago Public Schools chief executive officer Ron Huberman this week said the district will be able to avert some teacher layoffs that would have driven up elementary class sizes due in part to the restoration of $57 million in state categorical funding aid.

CHICAGO — As nonprofit hospitals in the Twin Cities brace for a threatened nurses’ strike, Moody’s Investors Service warned yesterday that a prolonged walkout could pressure some hospital ratings if already-thin operating margins are hurt by increased costs for temporary nurses and a drop in patient revenue.

CHICAGO — The St. Paul Port Authority will start anew in its efforts to resolve its faltering 876 Bond Fund in a way that benefits all bondholders. This follows a court decision earlier this month that formally killed its plan to liquidate the fund and distribute proceeds to investors holding the remaining $51 million of debt.

CHICAGO — Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn late last week signed controversial legislation that creates a pilot sales tax and revenue bond program to aid a proposed $378 million retail and entertainment complex in the struggling downstate city of Marion.